Wine: ‘France is very protective over the way rosé is made’
Wine: ‘France is very protective over the way rosé is made’
Feb 6, 2012 6
(Scotsman) - WITH Valentine’s Day just over a week away, it is time to look at some of the pink wines we traditionally associate with 14 February. Oddly enough, few in France – home to a third of the world’s rosé – recognise that association; for them, rosé is for summer, not February.
France is, however, very protective about the way its rosé is made, opting for methods that either bleed off the juice from black grapes or involve only minimal contact with their skins. Depending on the grape variety used, a mere 24 hours can be sufficient to create the necessary pink tinge. New World producers are permitted to make rosé by blending red and white wines but, after a determined French campaign, tighter rules apply in the EC.
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