Claret is a name used in English for red wine from the Bordeaux region of France, along the valleys of the rivers Gironde, Garonne and Dordogne, including Medoc, Graves and St Emilion. Claret wines are sometimes divided into Left and Right bank Clarets- Left bank clarets include the Medoc, Graves and Pessac-Léognan, whilst Right bank clarets include the St Emilion and the Pomerol. There are also numerous lesser appellations which are sometimes referred to as Clarets, such as Fronsac The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A glass of red wine This article is about the alcoholic beverage. ... New city flag (traditional tri-crescent) City coat of arms Motto: The fleur-de-lis alone rules over the moon, the waves, the castle, and the lion Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région Aquitaine Département Gironde (33) Intercommunality Urban Community of Bordeaux Mayor... Gironde is a département in the southwest of France named after the Gironde Estuary. ... The Garonne (Occitan: Garona) is a river in southwest France, with a length of 575 km (357 miles). ... Dordogne is a département in central France named after the Dordogne River. ... The Médoc is one of the most famous of the French wine-growing regions, consisting of the region in the département of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. ... Graves (pronounced , meaning gravel land in French) is an important wine region of Bordeaux, producing over 20 million bottles each year. ... Saint-Émilion is a small town near Bordeaux, France that is famous for the eponymous wine region that surrounds it. ... The Médoc is one of the most famous of the French wine-growing regions, consisting of the region in the département of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. ... Graves (pronounced , meaning gravel land in French) is an important wine region of Bordeaux, producing over 20 million bottles each year. ... Saint-Émilion is a small town near Bordeaux, France that is famous for the eponymous wine region that surrounds it. ... Appellation dOrigine Contrôlée (AOC), which roughly translates as term of origin is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, by the government bureau Institut National des Appellations dOrigine (INAO). ...

Usage

The term claret is most common in the United Kingdom. People from many former colonies (including the USA) call it red Bordeaux or just Bordeaux.

Claret is a protected name within the European Union for describing a red Bordeaux wine; it was accepted after the British wine trade demonstrated over 300 years' usage of the word.

The name Claret is occasionally used in the United States as a semi-generic label for any red wine in a style similar to that of Bordeaux. However, the usual practice today is to label wines by the grape variety or varieties from which they are made. Semi-generic is a legal term used in Canada and by the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to refer to wine designations that have essentially no meaning. ... This is a list of varieties of cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a Table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). ...

The French themselves do not use the term Claret, except for export purposes.

Usage has expanded to include the color which resembles the red hue of this wine. It has also become a slang word for blood. An old English expression for giving someone a bloody nose is "Tapping the Claret". Red may be any of a number of similar colours at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ...

Pronunciation

Claret is frequently mispronounced in United States English as /klæ'ɹeɪ/ as it is believed to be a French word. Although it is originally from the French word clairet the word claret is an English invention and thus is traditionally pronounced according to English orthography rules as /klæ'ɹɛt/.

History

The Plantagenet kingdom, covering England and much of France from 1152 to 1453, encouraged wine trade and the development of English taste for this wine, adopting the French word clairet to describe it. Angevin is the name applied to two distinct medieval dynasties which originated as counts (from 1360, dukes) of the western French province of Anjou (of which angevin is the adjectival form), but later came to rule far greater areas including England, Hungary and Poland (see Angevin Empire). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Events March 4 - Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of the Germans Eleanor of Aquitaine has her marriage to Louis VII annulled May 18 - Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry of Anjou Church of Ireland acknowledges Popes authority Almohad Dynasty conquers Algeria Establishment of the archbishopric of Nidaros (Trondheim), Norway... April 2 - Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (Ä°stanbul). ...

In the Late Middle Ages, a claret was a spiced wine-based drink produced by pouring wine, usually a red, over a bag containing a mix of spices. It was similar, and often identical, to hypocras. Spices that were specific to medieval clarets include anise, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon and fennel. Dante by Michelino The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (1300–1500 A.D.). The Late Middle Ages were preceded by the High Middle Ages, and followed by the Early Modern era (Renaissance). ... Hypocras (sometimes spelled Hippocras) is a drink made from wine, possibly heated, and mixed with spices, most notably cinnamon. ... Binomial name Pimpinella anisum L. Anise or Aniseed, less commonly anís (stressed on the first syllable) (Pimpinella anisum) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the eastern Mediterranean region and southwest Asia. ... Binomial name Carum carvi L. Caraway or Persian cumin (Carum carvi) is a biennial plant that belongs to the Apiaceae, or parsley, family. ... Genera Aframomum Amomum Elettaria The name cardamom (sometimes written cardamon) is used for species within three genera of the Ginger family (Zingiberaceae), namely Elettaria, Amomum and Aframomum. ... Binomial name Cinnamomum verum J.Presl Cassia (Indonesian cinnamon) is also commonly called (and sometimes sold as) cinnamon. ... Binomial name Foeniculum vulgare Mill. ...

The term now more frequently applies to unspiced red Bordeaux wine. The flavor of red Bordeaux is not "fruit forward" or "fruit driven", but has a complex balance of fruit, oak and tannins and is generally medium-bodied.

Trivia

• Samuel Johnson commented:

Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy. For other persons named Samuel Johnson, see Samuel Johnson (disambiguation). ... A glass of tawny port. ... Brandy pot stills at the Van Ryn Brandy Cellar near Stellenbosch, South Africa. ...

• Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers illustrates his misunderstanding of the term by saying:

I'm afraid most of the people we get in here wouldn't know a Bordeaux from a claret. Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese Basil Fawlty is the major character in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese. ... Fawlty Towers was a British sitcom made by the BBC and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. ...

• James Bond demonstrates his wine knowledge in the film Diamonds are Forever:

James Bond: The wine is quite excellent. Although for such a grand meal I would have expected a claret. Mr. Wint: But of course. Unfortunately our cellar is poorly stocked with clarets. James Bond: Mouton Rothschild IS a claret. And, I've smelled that aftershave on you before and both times I've smelled a rat. The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1], created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, featured in several novels and short stories. ... A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition Diamonds Are Forever, published in 1956, is the fourth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. ...

See also

• French wine

French gastronomy France is one of the oldest wine producing regions of Europe. ...

External links

• Claret as a cure for plague