The Claret reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Claret

Claret is the English name for red wine from the Bordeaux region of France, along the valleys of the Gironde, Garonne and the Dordogne.

The Plantagenet kingdom, covering England and much of France from 1152 to 1453, encoraged wine trade and the development of English taste for this wine, adopting the French word clairet to describe it.

Samuel Johnson commented: He who aspires to be a serious wine drinker, must drink Claret.

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Claret is a protected name within the EU for describing a red Bordeaux wine; it was accepted after the British wine trade demonstrated over 300 years usage of the word.

Claret is also the colour which resembles the red hue of this wine. It is used as a descriptor for dark red when it appears in football strip; for example the shirts of Aston Villa F.C are described as "claret and blue".

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Claret is also a slang word for blood.

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Claret is also the name of several communes in France:

• Claret, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence département
• Claret, in the Hérault département

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