Comments on: Britain will never have a Mediterranean drinking culture

By: James James

James James — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 08:17:33 +0000

Yann, no. Claret is an English word meaning red Bordeaux. As Grasspunk says, we don't use it much these days.

By: Grasspunk

Grasspunk — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 20:47:17 +0000

The English use the word “Claret” for red Bordeaux. Well, they used to, I don’t hear it from them much any more. They owned Bordeaux for quite a while, so it was a popular wine. Still is, I guess.

By: Yann

Yann — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:14:12 +0000

Claret is not red. Claret, “clairet” or “rosé” in french, “clarete” or “rosado” in spanish, is mix of red and white wine. It uses to be a low quality wine, served cold and easy to drink. It’s a good choice for the summer or when you wanna avoid white wines but you don’t trust the place enough to pick a red wine.

By: James James

James James — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 12:40:22 +0000

Claret is not port. Claret is an English word for red Bordeaux wine. Port is the fortified wine from Douro.

By: Yann

Yann — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 01:38:55 +0000

I’m Spanish, so I know that culture quite well.

It’s not a drinking culture. It’s a wine culture. When mediterranean people drink beer, they do in a similar way to any other people of Europe.

But wine, red wine in particular… that’s different. It’s almost a ritual. Traditionally, white wine was considered women’s wine, while men were supposed to know and enjoy a good red wine.

By: John Dougan

John Dougan — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 23:55:04 +0000

For a large-ish chunk of northern Europe, heaven was a place where you fought all day and drank all night. And there was some attempt to create heaven on earth.

By: Sheldon

Sheldon — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 21:55:18 +0000

Claret [port wine] was a favorite among the English upper class ever since the days before Wellington.

By: James James

James James — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:50:41 +0000

One person hypothesised that maybe alcohol helped social activity among Northern Europeans by helping us to overcome our reserve.