From now on
Don't mistake this young Bordeaux-Clairet wine for a rosé, it truly is a red wine--but because both maceration and fermentation times are short, it has a limpid color. It also has a lighter, fruitier taste than does a typical red. What makes this uncommon and supple wine fun are the few measures of musical notes on its label (a reflection, too, on my whimsical method of wine selection). The tune dates to the 16th-century song, "Quand Je Bois du Vin Clairet." When I drink a Claret wine, friend, my head turns, turns, turns. The song goes on, "Aussi désormais je bois Anjou où Arbois," so from now on I'm drinking wine from Anjou or Arbois. You can hear a decent rendition of the traditional drinking song by clicking here.
A word about Claret, an anglicizing of Clairet. The English have historically had a fondness for red Bordeaux wines and over the centuries, especially those leading up to the One Hundred Years' War, have been given to calling red wines in general from Bordeaux "Claret." This came about because when the Aquitaine was an English province, the wine from Bordeaux was rapidly produced and shipped to England. The result was the clear, red wine, or clairet, which was popular during the 12th through 15th centuries.
In 1950, the Clairet was reinvented, so to speak, by the Cave de Quinsac in Gironde, and is an agreable composition of Cabernet, Merlot, and Malbec grape varieties. To be served lightly chilled.
Vocabulary
désormais: from now on
un cépage: a grape variety
©2014 P.B. Lecron
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