Red wine + white wine does not equal rosé
Posted, May 06, 2009 @ 15:00
Controversial proposals to allow wine that is made up of simply mixing red and white wine to be labelled and sold as rosé have been criticised by Conservative MEP Neil Parish, chairman of the European Parliament's agriculture committee.
The European Commission has previously announced that it plans to lift the ban on blending white wines with red wines to make rosé. They see the current rules on making rosé as too complicated and restrictive on wine exporters. MEPs will be able to question the commission on these proposals today during parliament's plenary session.
Traditional rosé growers across the EU have invested heavily in recent years to develop high quality rosé that is now recognised as wine in its own right. They are concerned that lifting the ban on labelling blended red and white wine as rosé will flood the market with cheaper and poorer quality rosé.
In the specific regions where rosé is grown there are also fears that lifting the ban could have serious economic, ecological and employment consequences.
Commenting Mr Parish said:
"The outlook may not be so rosy for rosé. Producing the traditional rosé wines we see on our shelves has required substantial investment and considerable effort over the years and it is now recognised as a wine in it's own right.
"Consumers now expect a certain level of quality when buying rosé. Allowing a blend of red and white wine to be sold rosé will flood the market with cheaper variants and damage the rosé name.
"The commission's plans will un do years of hard work by traditional producers and could be seriously damaging to consumer confidence in rosé wines."