What Is the Origin of Claret Wine?
"Claret" is one of those bits of wine terminology that can confuse new wine fans. After all, there is no grape varietal called "claret." The term hails from an older time in the wine trade, and has even undergone some evolution in its meaning over time. However, its origins are firmly rooted in the famous French wine region of Bordeaux.
Identification
Claret is the anglicanization of a French name for a particular style of wine. In British English, it simply means any red wine from Bordeaux. The term now has legal force, as the European Union restricts the name as a trademark to be applied exclusively to wines from Bordeaux.
Clairet
"Claret" comes from "clairet," which meant pale. Clairet is a French type of wine that is only rarely seen in modern times. It was a rose (hence the name) but a peculiarly dark rose. The Plantagenet Kings of England (such as Richard the Lionheart) were also lords of France, and encouraged the international wine trade. The result was that many English lords, who were of French ancestry anyway, developed a taste for Bordeaux clairet. However, the meaning of the term changed over time. By the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the English were using claret to describe Bordeaux wine that had been spiced. The term claret then reverted to simply meaning Bordeaux rose when heavily spiced wines fell partly out of fashion.
The Disappearance of Clairet
No one is really sure why clairet fell out of favor with French winemakers. However, part of the reason is that the main importer of the wine was England, and between 1688 and 1815 Great Britain and France were locked in what is sometimes called "The Second Hundred Years War." This was a period where the two countries fought a long string of individual conflicts against each other, were at war far more often than they were at peace and therefore the wine trade was either hindered or altogether blocked. English palates switched from French claret to Portuguese Madiera and Port.
Modern Claret
The modern claret is a dark, heavy, dry red Bordeaux. It is a good choice of red wine for putting in the cellar and allowing to age for at least several years.
Foreign Claret
Claret is now used to describe not only red wines from Bordeaux, but wines made elsewhere in the Bordeaux style. Strictly speaking, the use of the designation "claret" is banned under European Union regulations for any wine not from Bordeaux, but in actual practice this does not matter so long as the foreign winemaker does not try to export her "claret" to the European Union.
Tags: from Bordeaux, European Union, wine trade, Claret Wine, Origin Claret
