Bordeaux Claret

[AlexR]

There’s a new kid In town, i.e. a new appellation: “Bordeaux Claret”.

For anyone who wishes to go into the technical details, here are the official criteria, in French, under “cahier des charges”: https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/bordeaux-claret-24339
As we all know, there is a more than a little schadenfreude going around about the plight of Bordeaux. Sales have plummeted more than in any other French red wine region and, in response, roughly 14,000 hectares of vines have been uprooted since 2020. To put things into perspective, that’s more than 50% of the combined vineyard area of the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune!!!
The people who are suffering are not the fat cats in three-piece suits, but the little guys, some of whose families have been making wine for generations. These are really tough times. The reasons for the drop in demand are multiple. Obviously, the Bordelais are not blameless, but red wine consumption has also been decreasing worldwide.

Something clearly had to be done and the radical reduction in vineyard area (government subsidized on the proviso that winegrowers commit to not replanting vines for 20 years) was the first step.

To help sales, the powers-that-be decided to introduce a new appellation starting with the 2025 vintage. The very first bottles have just been released. Of course, there is the point of view that this new appellation will only create unnecessary confusion and muddy the waters. I can see this to the extent that “Claret” is a very British name that is either unknown or considered prissy on Bordeaux’s largest export market in both value and volume: the US.
It is likewise an unknown term on the hugely important French market
What’s worse is that the guys in the Côtes du Rhône want their Claret appellation as well!
L’AOC Claret voulue par les côtes-du-Rhône pour leur vin rouge léger et édulcoré
And then there’s the risk of misidentifying “Claret” as “Clairet”, a different sort of wine altogether with a similar-sounding name…

On the plus side, give credit to Bordeaux for trying to dig itself out of a hole. Of course, not all initiatives succeed, but people are at least attempting something new. The idea is that wines entitled to Claret the appellation will necessarily have a lighter color and less tannin than those required for Bordeaux Rouge and, here’s the biggie, can contain up to 7 grams residual sugar per liter. To give you an idea of what this means, experienced tasters can perceive 1–2 grams/liter of sugar and for average consumers it’s more like 2–4 g/L.
Furthermore, it is suggested that the wine be served chilled. Clearly, young people in particular are being targeted. This is all a pretty radical departure from traditional Bordeaux.

I called the Syndicat des Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur this morning, but the person I spoke to was only qualified to talk about the technical aspects of Bordeaux Claret rather than the story behind it and how it will be promoted. Marketing is evidently very important in order to prevent this new product from being a big flop. Unfortunately, however, the promotional budget is funded by sales of basic Bordeaux, which have greatly diminished…

Bordeaux Claret was launched at the Wine Paris trade fair in February 2026. I wasn’t there to taste it, but an English friend, a Master of Wine, was. He said that the wine was fruity, upfront, and did indeed seem to suit young consumers. This same friend explained that even on such a traditional market as Britain, generation Z is unfamiliar with the term Claret, so that rebranding it should not be a problem. Mention was made above of the need to lower prices. Well, current price levels are unquestionably competitive compared to other regions, so the challenge is more to provide people with a satisfactory product and convince them to try it. With regard to quality, the wine must be approved by a blind tasting panel to be entitled to the appellation.

[DavidG]

Very interesting report, Alex. Hard to fault them for trying something different to attract a different audience when sales have taken such a serious downturn. Time will tell if it works. The drop in interest in wine and health concerns related to alcohol consumption in general may be a difficult trend to overcome.

[JCNorthway]

Thanks for that info, Alex - pretty interesting. I wonder if any US importers will decide to bring some in.

[Tom In DC]

Thanks for the info, Alex. Do you have any idea if more famous producers will make it?

And this is really going to confuse Basil Fawlty...

Basil Fawlty: It's always a pleasure to find someone who appreciates the boudoir of the grape. I'm afraid most of the people we get in here don't know a Bordeaux from a claret.
Mr. Walt: A bordeaux *is* a claret.
Basil Fawlty: What? Oh, *Bordeaux* is a claret, yes, but they wouldn't know that.

[hautbrionlover]

The quotation from Basil Fawlty reminded me of the dialogue in Diamonds Are Forever, when James Bond claims to be disappointed in a Mouton Rothschild being served by the would-be assassin Mr. Wint, who is exposed when Bond says he would have expected a claret, amd Wint doesn’t know that Mouton is a claret.