Claret or Port?

Our DBR case stirred memories of my studies in England. After formal dinners, if I was lucky enough to be invited into the Senior Combination Room (where the college fellows retreated to drink and chat), I would be offered my choice of Port or claret. I didn't know much about either at the time, but they were clearly very different in appearance and taste!

Claret, as it turns out, is what the British call red Bordeaux. (And that means you should pronounce it with the "t" at the end, because the British refuse to pronounce French correctly.) The word dates back to the 1100s (!) and originally referred to light red wines. (It comes from the French word "clairet," used for the same purpose.) At the time, those light red wines came from Bordeaux, thanks to a cozy England-Bordeaux relationship established when Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine (1151). The term stuck even though many reds from Bordeaux are no longer light.

Of course, the British and the French didn't stay great friends forever. By the late 17th century, things weren't looking good between the world's super-powers. British wine merchants went searching for alternatives to French wines. Port -- a deliciously smooth, sweet wine fortified with grape spirits, from the Douro Valley in Portugal -- was their best find. (It didn't hurt that it was cheap to import, thanks to a 1703 treaty between Portugal and England, and more stable on sea voyages than unfortified wine.) Port, in its many delicious and varied styles, remained a popular beverage even after trade between Britain and France re-opened.

So that's why there were two delicious after-dinner wine options at college! Claret, as far as I know, is a safe choice with no arcane traditions surrounding its consumption. But if you ever drink Port in a traditional setting in England, there are a few etiquette rules you should be aware of: (1) the Port is passed around the table to left, and it should never stop being passed until the decanter or bottle is empty; (2) if someone forgets to pass the Port, the correct way to remind them is to ask, "Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?" They will probably take the hint, but if they give you a blank look, you may add, "Terribly nice fellow, but he always forgot to pass the Port!"

Sources:
Karen MacNeil, The Wine Bible, p. 146 and pp. 511-527
www.decanter.com/learn/advice/what-is-claret-wine-ask-decanter-378401