🍷 Clairet

Clairet is a mention that the AOC Bordeaux may carry for dark rosé wines from the Gironde. They are made from the same red grapes as red Bordeaux after a light maceration of a few hours, so clairets are deeper in colour, richer and very aromatic. The name echoes the English «claret». ²³

A mention within the appellation. Under the specification, the AOC Bordeaux may be completed by «claret» for red wines and «clairet» for dark rosés, each under its own rules, including analytical standards. So clairet is not a separate appellation but a kind of Bordeaux rosé. ²³ In the EU register the name is listed as PDO «Bordeaux» (PDO-FR-A0821). ¹

Red grapes only. Clairet keeps the same list of black grapes as red Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cot (Malbec) and Carmenère. A later amendment let Bordeaux rosés include the white grapes Sémillon, Sauvignon and Sauvignon Gris, but not wines labelled «clairet». ²³

How clairet is made. Bordeaux rosés come mainly from running off juice from red-grape tanks before fermentation, while clairets follow a light maceration of a few hours. Other Bordeaux rosés may have their must treated with oenological charcoal for up to 20% of the volume, but clairets may not. ²³ EU rules do not allow a rosé without a PDO to be made by blending white and red wine, and clairet takes its colour from the skins. ³⁴

Area and climate. The area covers 501 of the 542 communes of the Gironde department. The Atlantic, the Gironde estuary and the Garonne and Dordogne valleys moderate the temperature, and rainfall is 700–800 mm a year. Clairet may also be made in a few neighbouring communes of the Dordogne and Lot-et-Garonne departments. ³

Vineyard and yield. For Bordeaux rosés, including clairet, the yield is 62 hl/ha and the ceiling 72 hl/ha. Vineyards planted since 1 August 2008 must have at least 4,000 vines per hectare, or 3,300 under certain conditions. ³

Analytical rules. Bordeaux rosés must reach at least 10% natural strength, and after enrichment total strength may not exceed 13%. Sugar is capped at 3 g/l, or 5 g/l with high acidity, and sulphur dioxide at 180 mg/l before bottling and 200 mg/l after. ³

Since 1152. After Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry Plantagenet in 1152, the English began importing Bordeaux wines they called «claret» for their light colour; the tradition lives on in the mentions «clairet» and «claret». Bordeaux was delimited in 1911 and became an AOC on 14 November 1936. Today it produces on average 200,000 hl of rosé and clairet against more than 2 million hl of red. ³

On the label, look for "Bordeaux clairet": a dry dark rosé from red grapes, best drunk young, within a year or two. ³ The WHO stresses that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. ⁵