Sales of rosé wine has gone up with 2.8% since the beginning of the year while red wine is down with 2.5%. In Bordeaux the old denomination “clairet” has seen a revival with many new producers of this full bodied and deep coloured type of rosé. Clairet is also said to be the origin of the English name “claret” for all red Bordeaux wine. So today there are two different rosé appellations: Clairet and Rosé. Even some classed growths have started to make rosé, e.g. Chateaux Kirwan, Giscours and Smith Haut Lafitte.
It might be a sign of commercial dynamism at these particular estates – Kirwan is run by a new generation Shÿler, Giscours is owned by a Dutch business man and SHL was bought some years ago my the Cathiard couple who after they made a fortune in selling sports goods.
But there can also be another background for making rosé: it can be a way of improving the red wine if done by “saigné” (early in the fermentation process a part of the must is run off and used to make rosé and the remaining must is thus more concentrated). The rosé wine that tasted recently at Kirwan was surprisingly full bodied with a deep colour, in spite of having macerated only for just a very short period on the skins. It was excellent with a picnic!
