Which Bordeaux wines are the most unique? The tannique and powerful red Grand Cru Classés of the Médoc, created to age for decades? The deep and velvety Premier Grand Crus of Saint-Emilion and the wines of Pomerol, which acquire an incomparable complexity of bouquet over the years?
Although in general the expensive classified Grand Crus are the pride, the locomotive and the main fame of the entire region, they produce about 3% of the total volume of Bordeaux wines. While Bordeaux Clairet, which will be discussed in this article, produces only 0.7%.
What is a “clairet” or “claret”?
There are some subtleties here. In essence, these terms refer to the same type of wine, but if we consider them from a historical and modern point of view, we can highlight a couple of nuances.
According to official specifications, the term “claret” applies to red wines, and “clairet” to dark pink wines. And “claret” is the historical name of red Bordeaux wines, which had rather pale color, comparing to the modern ones, when “clairet” refers to a special and unique category of wines with a dark pink color, produces only in Bordeaux.
Historical reminder
After the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry Plantagenet (the future king of England), trade relations between France and England began to develop. For three centuries, the English supplied their homeland with barrels of so-called “French Claret”, a term they may have created by combining the Gascon “vin clar” and the Latin “vinum clarus”. This drink, obtained in the Middle Ages as a result of the joint fermentation of red and white grapes, was significantly different from the “black wine” from Cahors or Bergerac. In the 13th century, the port of La Rochelle came into the possession of the French crown, and the English king agreed to provide France with favorable tariffs and duties on the French claret so beloved by the population, motivating the winegrowers of Bordeaux to significantly increase the area of vineyards. After the Battle of Castillon, which in 1453 put an end to the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, the latter again annexed Aquitaine and access to the ocean, after which winemakers began to look for new markets for their wines among the countries of Northern Europe. But the English were quite accustomed to and loved this easy-to-drink wine, and its production continued (although gradually declined), despite the predominance of red and white wines. Is it worth recalling that this famous classification of 1855 put the red Grand Crus of the Médoc in first place and made it a symbol of Bordeaux. But Bordeaux wines got their name and fame thanks to clairet and its export to England.
Until 1950, clairet remained in the shadows, if not completely unknown. But it was in the middle of the 20th century that the famous Bordeaux oenologist Emile Peynaud, together with the first president of the Quinsac wine cooperative, Roger Amiel, developed a method for producing modern clairet, after which both interest in it and the volumes of its production began to grow. And the city of Quinsac is now considered the capital of clairet.
Viticulture and winemaking technologies
Depending on preferences, clairet is characterized as dark pink wine, or rosé with a longer maceration. Or as light red wine, a red wine with a shorter maceration. Or “wine between red and pink.” But unlike true rosé, only six red varieties are permitted for clairet (while rosé does allow white varieties in very limited quantities):
- Merlot
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Cabernet Franc
- Carmenere
- Malbec
- Petit Verdot
Grapes for clairet can be sourced throughout the vast Bordeaux region, not limited to any particular sub-region.
The most common grapes used for this type of wine are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, which are de-stemmed (which simultaneously breaks open the skin and releases the colourless grape juice). They are then placed in a neutral fermenter and left at a low temperature, which blocks the yeast from working and starting fermentation, for maceration. This releases mainly the bright, purely fruity aromatic components and the anthocyanins that give the juice its colour, rather than the tannins, which are more easily released during fermentation by the alcohol produced by the yeast. This process can take about two days, rather than the few hours that it takes for rosé.
As a result, the juice is colored crimson, dark pink, or fuchsia, saturated with aromatic components and a minimum of tannins, and only then, after the removal of the pulp, is sent for alcoholic fermentation under the action of yeast to become, in fact, wine.
There are no minimum requirements for the duration of aging or its type (only neutral steel vats or mandatory aging in barrels) for clairet (with the exception of commercialization no earlier than December 31 of the current year). But such wines are not created for many years of waiting in the cellar and do not have the necessary characteristics for aging in barrels, so their maturation is limited to neutral containers.
Organoleptic profile and food pairings
The result is a drink that is in style between a light red and a rosé wine, with less tannin than the former, but more intense and “vinous” than the latter, with a noticeable but fairly low level of tannins. Usually raspberry or fuchsia in color, clairets have a rich fruity bouquet (strawberry, raspberry, ripe cherry), sometimes with floral undertones.
It is recommended to serve clairet at 8-10 degrees, i.e. slightly cooler than a light red wine (like regional Beaujolais at 12 degrees), but slightly warmer than a classic rose (5-7 degrees). Thus, clairet retains its fresh style and fully reveals its bouquet.
Another feature of this unique Bordeaux wine is that it is food-friendly. Clairet goes well with many summer appetizers – grilled tiger prawns (for those who like it – even with chorizo or bacon), grilled tuna, Greek salad, pizza, white meat chicken or veal… All you have to do is to use your imagination.
By the way, not very mature cheese would be just right here. As I said in my article about wine and cheese pairings, the combination of “cheese + red wine” has historically been established, coming from life in the countryside, where peasants took bread, cheese and diluted red wine with a low level of alcohol and tannins for lunch. Today, Claret can well play the role of this simple, non-tart drink in the company of young brie, mozzarella and tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, Emmental. In any case, Clairet is a truly summer wine that can be served colder, more like a red wine, and which goes well with shashlik (Russian barbecue speciality), light snacks, and even fruit.
