Château Grand Renouil, and the broader Ponty family holdings, date back to 1938, when Jean Ponty and his wife Jeanne purchased the property in Saint-Michel-de-Fronsac, building on the family's original estate at Château du Pavillon. Today the estate is run by fifth-generation winemaker Hélène Ponty on the coteau de Fronsac, farmed according to organic principles even though formal certification hasn't yet been completed.
L'Eclairée is a Clairet, one of Bordeaux's oldest and rarest wine styles, representing barely 1% of the region's total production today. Unlike a standard rosé, Clairet gets a longer skin maceration, typically 24 to 48 hours, giving it a deeper color and more structure than a typical pink wine while staying lighter than a red. Made from Bordeaux's classic red varieties, it's a direct descendant of the medieval "claret" that the English prized for centuries before Bordeaux shifted toward darker, more tannic reds. Expect a deep rosé-to-light-red hue, ripe red fruit flavors, and a touch more body and grip than a typical Provençal-style rosé.
The result is a distinctive taste of Bordeaux's own winemaking history, a style nearly lost to time now finding its way back into circulation.