Rosé wine from white and red grapes is fraud

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on the decision by the European Commission that in future rosé wine must be made exclusively from red grapes: "No one is going to want to stop tramps from swirling together a sour white with a raspy red one. ... But the same does not apply to the EU Commission, which was ready to let loose such 'rosé' produced by its member states on wine drinkers. One has to wonder whether Europe has no more pressing worries. Bacchus be praised, the Commission has now changed its mind, but only after desperate resistance on the part of winemakers. ... Rosé is wine made exclusively from red grapes. Calling a cheap mix of red and white wine a 'rosé' is label fraud. But it shouldn't be all that hard for the Commission to find a solution. To distinguish whether it's rosé in the bottle or some other swill, all they need is another appellation, for example 'brown bag vintages' or 'one buck chuck'."

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