In stock

WE 90

Grape Variety
55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine Style
Rich and fruity

Winemaker’s Notes:

Classic fruity, delicious Clairet
The wine from Château Sissan reveals an attractive, pronounced pink hue. Intensely ripe, red fruit aromas of cherries and raspberries dominate on the nose and palate. Light, savoury tannins add spine to the fleshy volume. An appealing, highly aromatic Clairet, laden with supple, rounded character on the palate. An easy-drinking wine, best served chilled. Thomas Drouieau, Winemaker, Maison Delor.

Quinsac Clairet par excellence
Bordeaux Clairet comes from specifically identified blocks of vines in the district of Quinsac, the quintessential capital of the appellation. Halfway between red and rosé wine, these delicately coloured, intensely fruity wines are similar to Bordeaux wines exported to England in the Middle Ages known as “Clarets”, which were extremely popular.

Sissan Clairet is made using the “saignée” method. After a short maceration for 24-48 hours, the red wine tanks are «bled», whereby some of the juices are extracted and then vinified separately, for a more pronounced shade of pink. The result is a delicious, pale red, brilliantly bright wine, boasting wonderful aromatic intensity and sweet tannins.

Bordeaux Clairet wines are distinctive, deeply colored rosé wines from Bordeaux. As might be expected, they are made using the classic Bordeaux red-wine varieties – predominantly Merlot with a little help from the more “serious” Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Despite their intense color and rich, fruity scent, the wines are always dry in style.

Classic Bordeaux Clairet wines are so deep in color (more so even than those from Spanish Navarra) that they might almost be mistaken for a very lightly colored red wines. In fact, this is precisely what they once were. Many centuries ago, when Bordeaux was beginning its rise to fame, the region’s red wines were significantly paler than they are today. They were fermented for just a couple of days, rather than a couple of weeks, as is now customary.

Awards and Press Reviews
2017 Vintage: Cited – Guide Hachette des Vins 2019 “This Clairet has an expressive bouquet of ripe red fruit, especially cherries, which is echoed in the lively attack on the palate; the wine then becomes rounder and more vinous.”

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