There is a right way and an interior way to produce rosé. Let the new world do as they like but a real rosé is unique. It's never going to be comparable to a grand cru but it's still special. I used to find the old fashioned ways a bit much but over time I've come to appreciate what they mean. As much as I enjoy new world wines (especially South Africa) I'm a believer in the combination of terroir, grapes and traditional methods. It does make a difference. There may be hope after all in Brussels. Hooray for trying to maintain quality!
The European Union, bowing to an outcry from traditional vintners, has reversed itself and decreed that the cut-rate technique of mixing red wine with white does not make an authentic rosé and thus cannot be used by Europe's winemakers.
The decision, announced Monday at the union's headquarters in Brussels, represented a victory for French winemakers who had risen up against plans by the E.U. agriculture commission to end its ban on mixing as a way to compete with down-market rosés concocted by producers in such countries as Australia and South Africa. More broadly, it was a rare retreat by the forces of globalization and profit margins in the face of resistance from traditional artisans.
"It's important that we listen to our producers when they are concerned about changes to the regulations," the union's agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, said in a communique. "It's become clear over recent weeks that a majority in our wine sector believe that ending the ban on blending could undermine the image of traditional rosé."
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