At the Water’s Edge
Claude-Joseph Vernet:
The Port of Bordeaux (1758)
You don’t hear the word
“claret” very often these days, except in the few traditional wine shops that
still survive in Britain. It’s used to describe virtually any red wine from the
Bordeaux region of France. Oddly enough, it is always pronounced the English way
to rhyme with “garret” and never pronounced in the French manner. Indeed, the
French never use the word. In the fifteenth century, Bordeaux wine was very much
lighter in colour than it is today and it was known as clairet, meaning
“pale”. In Britain, it became Anglicized to “claret” and the word stuck. One of
Britain’s oldest established wine merchants Berry Bros and Rudd sell a wine
called Good Ordinary Claret which is a lot better than it sounds. It’s
one of the company’s best-selling products.
My first encounter with
the word “claret” was in the form of wine gums, not there was any wine in them
of course. When I was a small boy, you could find wine gums in almost every
confectionary shop. They were colourful, sweet and chewy and were not known for
their contribution to dental health. They came in several shapes and colours and
were labelled after different kinds of wine. I liked the ones called “claret”,
which had a kind of fake strawberry flavour. There was also one called “hock”,
another interesting but long-defunct word. It was once used to mean white wines
from Germany and especially from the Rhine. It probably derived from the town of
Hochheim-am-Main, which would have been too great a linguistic challenge for
most eighteenth-century Brits. Anyway, perhaps I thought that eating wine gums
would give me an air of suave sophistication. The other kids, who preferred
aniseed balls and enormous gobstoppers, probably thought I was a poncey little
prat.
The Bordeaux region of
France covers the whole area of the Gironde department, with a total vineyard
area of over four hundred square miles - the largest wine growing area in the
country. The vine was introduced by the Romans, probably sometime during the
first century as the Roman Empire spread its power and influence over Western
Europe. Wine, including some of the best wines in the world has been produced in
the region ever since.
Red Bordeaux is nearly
always made from a blend of grapes, notably Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
and Merlot but sometimes the lesser known Petit Verdot and Malbec are also
added. There are more than eight thousand wine producers in Bordeaux and many of
them use the name “Château” on the label. This doesn’t imply that the wines are
made in castles. Far from it. Some châteaux are not much more than farmhouses.
Some don’t exist at all because they are merely trade-names, nearly always used
by wine cooperatives to add a bit of gravitas to the label.
Bordeaux wines can range
from the fairly cheap to the staggeringly expensive. Some of the top names, such
Ch. Lafite Rothschild, Ch. Margaux and Ch. Latour reach astronomical prices. A
case of Ch. Lafite Rothschild for example can set you back thousands of dollars.
Fortunately you can buy decent Bordeaux for considerably less and you won’t go
far wrong with the two wines this week.
Ch. Cazette 2011 (red),
France (Bt. 619 @ Foodland)
This wine is rather
elegant and refined - just what Bordeaux should be, in fact. Unlike many New
World reds, Bordeaux wines tend to be more restrained on the palate. They’re
more about elegance and balance rather than over-the-top fruitiness and excess
and they veer more towards grown-up sophistication rather than playfulness and
novelty.
This wine is a lovely,
intense purplish-red with those familiar “legs” that form in the glass as you
swirl the wine around. It’s produced from a blend of 70% Merlot and 15% each of
Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, though it took me ages to find out,
because Bordeaux wine producers rarely reveal this sort of information.
Predictably, the Merlot qualities tend to dominate and bring attractive
concentrated woodland aromas of blackberries, plums and herbs with a touch of
vanilla and minerals. It has an exceptionally soft mouth-feel with flavours of
rich dark berries. There’s an attractive dash of acidity too, with a good
framework of firm chewy tannins. This wine won a Bronze medal at the Bordeaux
Wine Awards (Concours de Bordeaux) which for the last sixty years has
been one of the most important events in the Bordeaux wine industry. There’s an
excellent finish too; clean, dry and herby with touches of fruit and fine
tannins.
Ch. Les Tuileries, 2010
(red),
France. (Bt. 605 @ Foodland)
There are several
completely different Bordeaux wines that go under the name of Château Les
Tuileries but this is a Foodland exclusive and so you won’t find it on sale
anywhere else. Bright in the glass with purple hues, this has a rather beguiling
“come-and-get-me” floral aroma of strawberries and bramble fruit. It has a
seductive mouth-feel with very soft, almost imperceptible tannins. If anything,
the tannin comes out best on the long and pleasing woody finish making this wine
(at just 12.5% alcohol) quite an easy drinker. To my mind, both these two wines
are well-made and typical everyday Bordeaux reds. They need quite a bit of
air-contact to open them up, especially the first one. Half an hour or so should
do the trick. You’ll be rewarded for your patience.
So, which to choose? If
you can fork out Bt 1,200 without having to sell the cat, then buy them both and
decide for yourself. But I’ll make it easier. If you enjoy firm, rather dry
wines with a typically French tannic, woody quality, try the Château Cazette.
But if you prefer soft, easy-drinkers, then I think you’ll enjoy the Château les
Tuileries. Incidentally, while typing up the notes for the second wine, my
ever-helpful Microsoft spelling-checker suggested “Château Les Toiletries”. And
by the way, if you are still trying to work out the significance of the title
this week, it just means “Bordeaux”.
