Wine Enthusiast Magazine
Subscribe
One of the hot-button topics in French winemaking circles right now is pending EU legislation that would allow European producers to make rosé wines by blending together red wines and white wines.
Like many efforts to “modernize” European wine regulations, it’s an attempt to allow Old World producers to emulate New World techniques. Since New World wines have captured plenty of market share in recent years, this plan makes sense to some bureaucrat MBAs sitting in Brussels trying to craft laws that will help their citizen-winemakers compete.
The catch? French winemakers don’t want any help of this sort. The idea of a rosé wine being defined by its color rather than its production technique is anathema to the vast majority of them. Outside of an exception for Champagne, French rosés are made from dark-skinned grapes, briefly macerated on the skins until the desired color is achieved, not by blending red and white wines.
On the other hand, consumers quite reasonably tend to judge whether a wine is rosé by its color. Purchasers consider the hue of the wine when deciding to buy it, but generally don’t consider how it came to be that way, much like most buyers of pink lemonade couldn’t tell you how it acquires its color.
The difference between a rosé produced from red grapes and one produced from white grapes, with just a percent or two of red for coloring would be in the taste, argue the French. Altering the permitted production methods would lead to confusion among consumers, making it more difficult for their wines to compete, not less.
As the weather here in New York finally warms up into the 80s this week and thoughts begin to turn toward summer rosés from Provence, the Loire and the Rhône, imagine your Bandol rosé including only a few percent of Mourvèdre instead of being made entirely from that unique variety. Which rosé would you prefer?
Filed under: Industry Issues, Opinions and Commentary, Winemaking
4 Comments
4 Responses to “A Rosé Is a Rosé Is a Rosé… Or Is It?”
Please Wait
May 20th, 2009 at 4:37:19 PM
I suppose you’re right that most people don’t care how a rosé is “built” just as I really don’t care how my wine opener was formed in the factory. But, we’re not talking the stuff of factories and formulae, and if the art that leads to the taste profile I want is through maceration of a single grape, then I want that to happen. If someone else wants to drink the other kind of rosé, then something needs to be done to differentiate it for us. Think Charmat vs. Methode Champenoise in the sparkling world. Choices are fine, blindness is not.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:49:33 AM
I’m with the French on this one. If this regulation goes through, the very least that should be included is a label requirement stating that the wine is a “traditional” rosé or a blended blush.
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:41:01 PM
I have to side with the French on this issue also. Please do not mess with our Bandol Roses, Tavel, and Cotes du Rhone Roses. The world is still struggling to appreciate their differences from white Zinfandel except in well traveled circles. If you insist on making blush-colored wines made from already fermented white & red wines, then label the bottles prominently as such so customers will realize the difference in taste. I predict this method will not last long in the popularity contest. All rose bottles should be labeled with varietal content. A rose of Syrah and one from Cabernet or Merlot may look similar, but the taste will be quite different.
It may be true that some consumers buy Rose wine by the color. How else can they choose from the several roses on the shelf with no descriptions about them? I think that most consumers are willing to make intelligent choices on their wines, so a Rose wine that they may be less familiar with than their usual red Syrah, should have some help on the label. It should list varietal, region, method of winemaking (standard limited skin contact, saignee, or white & red wine blending). This way they will be able to choose their favorite for taste and not be confused.
May 24th, 2009 at 6:00:46 PM
I have read the comments and the review but thoughts of Rose in the US for the vast majority of consumers regarding Rose that its a wine still struggling to find its place in most retail stores. Most consumers still think of the white zin days of nothing but playful sweet juice for the sweet drinkers. I think regions like Long Island in New York are making fantasic bone dry roses from blends that are really starting to turn people around about Roses. Dont think that only regions like Provence are making the only dry Rose. Many on Long Island are from the Saignee method sitting on skins only several hours put into tanks and fermenting at very cool tempetuers holding great aeromatics and dislpaying peach, strawberry and grapefruit. Some suggestions to try Roanoke vineyards, Waters Crest Winery, Macari vineyards, Wolffer Estate and Corey Creek are several I have tryed from the 2008 vintage that will leave you wanting more. I think most consumers due not understand or care how it is made because one wine made from Merlot and Cab franc and the same blend type from another producer is not going to taste anything alike. I feel the real focus should be on residual sweetness and focus on the dryer style of the wine. Your resturant staff or store owner should be assisting you based on the style in which you enjoy the wine. Rose is not ever the same each year the blends change based on the type of season. This would be very costly to requier wineries to creat and approve new labels each vintage is crazy what needs to be addressed is percentage of sugar.