The Plantagenet kingdom, covering England and much of France from 1152 to 1453, encoraged wine trade and the development of Englaish 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.
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".
Claret is also a slang word for blood.
Claret is also the name of several communes in France: