World

Vinters pink-faced over fake rose wine

Vinters pink-faced over fake rose wine

By Agence France Presse

ALB: Some people may wrongly believe that rose wine is made by mixing red and white wine but vintners should know better — as one French wine making group learned when they were hit with a fine for doing just that. The Vinovalie wine-growing association, based in the southwestern Tarn region, was fined more than 10,000 euros ($11,000) for turning to the simple art of colour mixing to obtain the pink-hued drink, a legal source said Friday. Three of its bosses were also fined between 1,000 and 5,000 euros. According to the judgement, Vinovalie in 2012 “blended white wine with red wine to obtain rose, without registering this process.” Emmanuel Gil, a lawyer for Vinovalie, told AFP she would appeal the court’s decision. Rose wine, dismissed by many as unsophisticated, is hugely popular in France, especially in the warmer southern regions where men and women alike happily sip the chilled libation on a hot summer’s afternoon. Rose-makers in Provence region, who have fought hard for their blushing wine to be taken seriously, were infuriated when the EU in 2009 briefly tried to allow producers to make rose by mixing red and white.