Bordeaux’s decision to officially bring back the Claret classification – so often associated with the traditional UK wine merchant and archetypal Bordeaux drinker – but now revamped and repositioned to appeal to younger drinkers looking for lighter style, fresher, red wines, has certainly split opinion. Particularly in the UK, which is such a major market for Bordeaux wines, where there are more than some in the trade who are to be convinced by the move. To help explain why the decision is not only on trend with changing drinking habits, and can potentially bring current non-Bordeaux wine drinkers into the category, but could crucially help hundreds of Bordeaux growers, producers and winemakers stay in business, Richard Siddle talks to Stéphanie Sinoquet, managing director of Bordeaux et Bordeaux Supérieur Wine Union, and Bordeaux marketing consultant Claire Dawson. Here they explain why Claret has the potential to transform and revive the troubled, and for many, at risk Bordeaux wine industry.
This all sounds rather dramatic. What is all this fuss over a new style of Bordeaux wine?
It’s a bit more than a “fuss”. It’s been a very long time since there has been such a major change in the way the traditional world of Bordeaux works. This summer will be the first time the wine trade will have the chance to sell the new style of Claret wines made from the 2025 vintage.
It is being seen within Bordeaux as a vital breakthrough moment that could potentially be a business saving decision for hundreds – if not thousands – of Bordeaux producers, and all those who rely on them in the region.
Growers and producers who have been hit by a double whammy of major declining sales, both domestically and all its major traditional export markets, and the impact of climate change that is forcing many winemakers, growers and producers to pack it all in, rip up their vines and abandon their vineyards.
As Stéphanie Sinoquet managing director of the Bordeaux et Bordeaux Supérieur Wine Union that looks after the interests of thousands of producers, explains: “Bordeaux et Bordeaux Supérieur PDO volumes are down by 50% over the last five years and have been impacted by a combination of climate change, geopolitical impact,(Brexit, US taxes, and lost markets like China and Russia and a reduction of red wine consumption by consumers.”
By creating what it sees as a new wine category called Claret, with a fruit-forward profile, lighter, lower-tannin expression that can be served chilled, it believes it can both meet evolving consumer preferences and market challenges.
“It is also potentially a lifeline for struggling producers and gives them the chance to produce a style of wine better suited to warmer conditions and evolving consumer tastes,” she adds.
So Bordeaux is essentially re-claiming the term “Claret” – essentially from the British – and taking it back to its roots in the Middle Ages when it was a popular lighter style red?
That’s exactly it. The Claret of 2026 is very much in the spirit – and style – of the Claret of the Middle Ages..
It’s as if Bordeaux has got itself into a DeLorean and taken itself back to the future to rediscover what came before.
As Sinoquet explains: “We have this very true story that we would like to revive about clear red Bordeaux wines from the Middle Ages. We decided to revisit the old recipe with modern techniques and change all the specifications behind the old/historical Claret to create a light red Bordeaux with low tannin. The colour will also be clearer than classical Bordeaux.”
It was the British who took it upon themselves to use ‘Claret’ to describe all the classic Bordeaux red wines that have become famous the world over.
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So how do we define what a new Bordeaux Claret wine is?
In a nutshell the key characteristics of the new Bordeaux Claret is fruit-forward profile, very low tannins, a paler colour, and up to 7 grams per litre of sugar which might sound high but would not be picked up by 90% of consumers and the majority of wine professionals, claims Sinoquet.
But it is still very much a dry red wine and uses the same grape varieties as a classic Bordeaux red.
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