June 25, 2009--Seeing Rosé

Summer has finally arrived though for those of us living in the Northeast the weather has been much more reminiscent of mid spring. But, in anticipation, of what I think of as summer, actually anticipating long, languid dinners accompanied by many glasses of wine, I ordered a case of my favorite rosé with the unlikely name of Turkey Flats. Rosé, the perfect summer wine. If you can't make up your mind about maybe wanting something red or perhaps something white (and who wants to do much struggling with such matters when we are supposed to be relaxing) something seemingly midway between the two seems ideal.

Though mind you, rosé is not produced as a half-and-half blend of red and white wines. It is something unto itself. It is traditionally made from red grapes and only red grapes that are crushed and then left to ferment accompanied by their skins which impart the distinctive rosé color to the otherwise colorless grape juice.

But as with so much else in this rapidly adulterating world (I just heard, for example, that next year the Academy Awards will nominate ten and not five films for best picture--which to me dilutes the meaning of "best"), there has been a move afoot in Europe to allow winemakers to make rosé in sort of the way Bathtub Gin was concocted during Prohibition--filling a tub with half a measure of red wine before dumping in an equal amount of white, mixing it well, and then pouring this mess into bottles, corking them (undoubtedly with plastic corks), and then sticking labels on them that claim this stuff is Rosé.

As they used to say in my old neighborhood--"No way rosé!"

Thankfully, someone in France was paying attention and organized a protest. Not exactly of the kind from 1789 when les citoyens took to the barricades and made La Révolution. There is now a European Union and the EU has an Agriculture Commission and to this commission rosé winemakers appealed, asking it to protect their venerable methods. And, according to the equally venerable New York Times, they were heard. As the linked article will show, plans to make rosé as a blend will not be permitted.

"It is a very sensible decision that is of very significant importance to our sector but also for consumers of rosé across the European Union," said Xavier de Volontat, president of the Association Générale de la Production Viticole, a French industry group.

This reads better in French. Très is much preferred to very, don't you think? And no one can say important like the French. Especially when it comes to wine.

My only problem with this is that Monsieur Volontat should have mentioned how très importante this decision is to some of us not only across the EU but also across The Pond. Me, for example. All I can say is Merci beaucoup. Summer can now proceed.