Noun phrases with prepositions and appositions

Question

In this sentence :

Later on, experience the otherworldly feel of one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”, Riquewihr.

Is there a relation between the 2 noun phrases the “Most Beautiful Villages in France” and Riquewihr because of the comma creating an apposition ?

In this one :

Later on, join a wine tasting and drink a variety of Alsatian wines such as pinot noir and pinot gris at a family-owned winery.

Does the preposition "such as" refer to the earlier noun "Alsatian wines" ?

Answer 1

Thanks for your question.

FOR APPOSITION

You should carefully read what Riquewihr is. In context, "one" is "Riquewihr"

one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”, Riquewihr.

FOR SUCH AS

It has two major meanings.

(Basically, "such as" gives examples of the previous noun(s))

such as refers to ["pinot noir and pinot gris" at a family-owned winery].

1. for example

‘I met a lot of important people in Canada.' ‘Such as?' (= give me an example).

Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare.

2. of a kind that; like

Opportunities such as this don't come along every day.

Bonus : such as it is

used to say that there is not much of something or that it is of poor quality

You're welcome to join us for lunch, such as it is — we're only having soup and bread.

Answer 2

1/ The comma is one of the ways of indicating an apposition. It is often used for that.

2/ "Such as" is a marker of apposition, a so called explicit indicator of apposition.

(CGEL 17.73) The most important indicators of apposition.

that is to say, that is, ie <formal and written>
namely, viz <formal and written>
to wit <formal, esp legal>
in other words
or, or rather, or better
and
as follows
for example, for instance, eg <formal and written>, say, including,
     included, such as
especially, particularly, in particular, notably, chiefly, mainly, mostly
of

Some of these indicators either precede or (less commonly) follow the second appositive: that is, that is to say, for example, for instance, in particular, in other words:

Dickens's most productive period, [that is (to say) the 1840s,]/[the 1840s, that is (to say)] was a time when public demand for fiction was growing at a tremendous rate.

Answer 3

In your first sentence, the comma indicates an apposition. In your sentence you have first the description of the referent, followed by the referent itself. Maybe more usual would be the reverse order: (Cambridge)

The second noun phrase tells us something more about the first noun phrase (its identity or its qualities).

• [NP 1] Timothy, [NP 2] their youngest child, is very musical.

We can also reverse the order of the phrases:

• [NP 1] Their youngest child, [NP 2] Timothy, is very musical.

So yes, in your sentence the NP 1 (one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”) is the apposition having as a referent NP 2 (Riquewihr).

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As for such as, it is used to introduce a non exhaustive list of examples: (Cambridge)

We can use such as to introduce an example or examples of something we mention. We normally use a comma before "such as" when we present a list of examples. Where there is just one example, we don’t need a comma:

• The shop specialises in tropical fruits , such as pineapples, mangoes and papayas. (… for example, pineapples, mangoes and papayas.)

So in your second sentence you have:

a variety of Alsatian wines such as pinot noir and pinot gris

This shows that (A) is a group of items to which not only (B) amd (C) belong. So, "pinot noir and pinot gris" are two kinds of wines that pertain to the group named as "(a variety of) Alsatian wines". D, E, F and G are other such wines (I don't know how many wines there are of this kind, so do not take my picture litteraly). You could also express your phrase in this way:

a variety of Alsatian wines, among which pinot noir and pinot gris.

Note: According to the explanation I quoted from the Cambridge dictionary, you should put a comma before "such as" if it introduces a list of more than one example. In your case it introduces 2 examples, so there should be a comma. However, I will not claim that this is an intransgressible rule. People do that all the time, and the comma does not really affect meaning in such a structure. It is simply considered more "neat" in writing.