Wine of the Month – Bordeaux Clairet
Our wine of the month is the fantastic Bordeaux Clairet rosé.
About
The Bordeaux Clairet by Château de Parenchère is a particularly aromatic rosé wine with deep red fruit colour. It is more substantial than traditional rosés, with a good body and exuberant fruitiness. This roundness and pronounced structure make it a perfect rosé for gastronomy.
This unique wine is called a ‘rosé of Saignées’ thanks to the more extended maceration before fermentation begins. The process creates a more expressive wine with lots of personality.
Grapes
Grape varieties can vary from vintage to vintage to create the Bordeaux Clairet, but the 2020 and 2022 vintages (currently in stock in the Bacchus Wines PLDC shop) are made from 100 % Merlot. Merlot grapes offer suppleness, fruitiness, and roundness, making this rosé wine a joy to drink.
Food Pairing
The Bordeaux Clairet offers more structure than your average rosé, which makes it versatile and great with spiced Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine. Bold flavours are ideal for this wine, but because it is so versatile, we also love it with barbequed meat and seafood. It cuts through richness beautifully but without the high levels of acidity.
Awards & Accolades
Respected French wine critics Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve had the following to say about the 2020 vintage, “Well done. Intense and sustained colour. Concentrated and intensely aromatic. It is a Clairet of personality with a good volume in the mouth.”
British Chef and restaurateur Jake S. Watkins loves Bordeaux Clairet with spiced food. He told us, “I just opened Château de Parenchère Bordeaux Clairet rosé. It went perfectly with my Asian spiced mussel soup. The warmth of the spices balanced it perfectly. Bravo!”
Concours International Gilbert & Gaillard gave the 2021 vintage a gold medal, which is a prestigious award.
About Château de Parenchère
Our flagship wine producer is the award-winning Château de Parenchère, located on the eastern edge of the Bordeaux wine-growing area, 38 km from Saint-Emilion, near the village of Sainte-Foy-La-Grande. It lies on the borders of the Dordogne and the Lot et Garonne departments.
In 1958, Château de Parenchère became the property of Mr Raphaël Gazaniol, who had returned from North Africa, where his family had already been making wine for two generations. He enlarged the estate from 90 to 153 hectares and replanted almost the entire vineyard, which had been decimated by the frost in 1956.
With his son Jean, they decided to take up a challenge: to make Château de Parenchère an authentic Grand Vin de Bordeaux, able to demonstrate that great wines can come from more modestly recognized appellations.
The estate’s reputation soon exceeded the borders, and Parenchère wines were exported to more than thirty countries worldwide.
Organic Wine Production
Château de Parenchère has been looking to its history to advance its wine production. The winemakers began their sustainability focus in 2008 and, for over fifteen years, have converted their vineyards to produce organic wine. The process has been long and arduous but is important to the chateau. The entire vineyard ecology has undergone a tremendous change, but the family are committed to it and excited about the results.
Managing Director Richard Curty told us. “We believe this is the best option to preserve our soil biodiversity as much as possible and, more generally, to preserve the environment. We also think this type of culture translates into more pure and vivid wines.”
Discover Bordeaux Clairet here, and read the full story of Château de Parenchère’s organic conversion here.
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