CHATEAU BALLAN LARQUETTE BORDEAUX CLAIRET 2010

Description:
Wine Style:  Fruity Rose

Chateau Ballan Larquette is the new label for our most popular Clairet Domaine de Ricaud Bordeaux Clairet.  The award winning estates are owned by Regis Chaigne, whose family have been wine makers for six generations.  Ballan Larquette lies in the Entre Deux Mers (between Saint Emilion and Sauternes) in a tiny village named St Laurent du Bois (St Lawrence in the Woods).   

This Clairet is lusciously intense, mouth watering and a dark cherry colour with an opalescent sheen.  It has the flavours of crushed strawberry, mango, pineapple, pomegranate and redcurrant with rounded smooth tannins that just slip down your throat. It's a well loved wine – one customer said: “quite simply has to be the best ever rose I've tasted”.

Clairet is particular to Bordeaux and is not a a Rosé. It is a very different creature indeed and has its own AOC: Bordeaux Clairet, to regulate its production. Bordeaux Clairet is darker than Bordeaux Rosé and more fruit, power and structure. If the name sounds familiar, that's because Clairet was the style of Bordeaux enjoyed in England until the 18th century - hence the name Claret!

Ballan Larquette really is a beautiful presentation of a Clairet produced in Bordeaux.  It is perfect as an aperitif and is fabulous with food - in fact Regis calls it 'The Rose of Family Cuisine'.  Ballan Larquette will accompany seafood, grilled meats, rabbit and fish, salads, Asian cuisine and prime rib of beef.

Recommended Food and Wine Pairing
Superb with Greek Meze such as Red Pepper with Feta Meze -  this is based on the traditional Greek recipe Htipit which is a blend of sweet roasted red peppers and Greek feta cheese.

Richard Mark James - Wine Writing
With the prices of top Bordeaux reds spiraling ever upwards (except for the 2012 vintage perhaps, which the trade and critics are expressing misgivings about quality-wise) making these wines for well-off investors only, it's nice to find a few tasty bottles for under a tenner - and one, the last red featured below, for £15 from M&S though it's very good. The first three tasting-noted here, a red white and rosé trio, are available from a fairly new on-line specialist called www.bordeaux-undiscovered.co.uk, picked pretty much at random off their website which looks like it deserves closer inspection.

Château Ballan-Larquette 2011 Bordeaux Clairet (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot; 13% abv) - rich vibrant colour and red fruit cocktail on the nose / palate vs oily creamy flavours and texture, fairly full-bodied with 'sweet' cherry / berry fruit vs crisp fresh bite on the finish. Serious foodie rosé. £8.45 Bordeaux Undiscovered.

Andrew Barrow, The Guardian
All the retailers I spoke to yesterday were very positive about the continuing growth or switch to rosés. Bordeaux-Undiscovered, run by importer Nick Stephens, said his figures corresponded roughly with the report, with sales of rosé wines increasing 40% during 2008. Perhaps the trend is edging towards 'almost reds'. Stephens said his darker rosés, including a delightful Domain Ricaud Clairet 2005, that saw sales increase by 53%.

Fresh Escapes
Clairet is a full bodied style of Rose particular to Bordeaux and if the name sounds familiar, that's probably because it was the most common style of Bordeaux enjoyed in England until the 18th century - hence the name claret.  It has a distinctive rich colour and a ripe strawberry nose.  On the palate it's brimming with lovely round red fruits - cherries and a hint of rose petals; summer in a glass, great value too.

Andrew Barrow, The Observor
On a man-acceptance scale this (colour aside), is right up there. Dry and delicious with or without food, it's a classic Claret (the ultimate real man's wine) blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (35%) and Cabernet Franc (15%); a classic Bordeaux spread but made to be a rosé rather than a red. Someone at least has been listening to what the British consumer really wants and has responded with a wine of excellent structure, fresh, clean flavours that end with raspberry jelly that also has a gorgeous mouth-feel and surprisingly good length.

Ned Halley, The Western Daily Press, Today's Tipple
Clairet is a Bordeaux name for rose, made by keeping the juice on the skins just long enough to impart a nice pink hue, and lots of character and flavour, too. This wine is a vivid magenta colour, smells of fruit blossom and is packed with strawberry-blackcurrant flavour. It is crunchy fresh, yet long on the finish. Easily the best rose I have tasted this year, it's simply delicious.

Clive Platman, The Birmingham Post, Food & Drink
Uncommon in the UK, a clairet is a deeper-hued rosé, benefiting from long skin contact with the juice. Fuller on, this gave deep flavours of plum infused with spice.

Charlotte Lessing, The Lady
A surprise delivery of Bordeaux wines from an online wine shop . . . for those who appreciate quality wines but can never seem to find a reliable source . . . it's intense colour is fullon the nose with red fruit aromas including strawberries and redcurrants.  With smooth tannins, plenty of fruit, it has what they call "a slight hint of sweetness".  Once again the sweet taste almost put me off but as I went on enjoying the frutiness and the easy drinking I thought it would be popular.

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