ILLEGAL ROSÉ BUST

ALTHOUGH YOU can technically make a pink wine by blending red and white together, the practice on the whole is frowned upon and in some countries, it’s illegal. Case in point, a tribunal in Albi, southern France recently fined wine cooperative Vinovalie $1O,9OO for unlawful rosé production, with a further $1,O9O in damages. Three employees in managerial roles were separately fined for their role in the affair. Vinovalie, based in four spots across southwest France and which comprises four co-operatives and 47O winemakers across 38OO hectares of vines in the Tarn, Lot and Haut-Garonne regions, will be appealing the decision. Its case resurrects a debate about how still rosé wine should and shouldn’t be made in the European Union. The Albi tribunal said the falsified rosé wine dates back to 2O12 and that Vinovalie did not record the manipulation in their official documents. In 2OO9, the EU created a storm by promising legislation that would allow rosé still wines to be bottled by all member states simply by mixing finished red and white wines. But strong protests in France – particularly Provence – and Italy meant the plans were abandoned. A spokesperson at the Vins de Provence winemaking syndicate confirmed that rosé in French appellations continues to be made by skin maceration and that the color is the result of the contact between the skin and the juice that also gives a specific olfactory profile. If white grapes are used along with red, any mixing of the two must be done before fermentation, not when the juice has been made into finished wine.