In 2016, a French winery was fined for illegal rosé winemaking. France’s Vinovalie co-operative was fined for illegally blending red and white wines and bottling the result as rosé.
In Albi, southern France, the tribunal fined Vinovalie €10,000 for illegal rosé production, with a further €1,000 in damages. Three managerial roles were separately fined between €1,000 and €5,000 for their role in the affair.
Vinovalie, based in four spots across southwest France and comprises four co-operatives and 470 winemakers across 3,800 hectares of vines in the Tarn, Lot, and Haut-Garonne regions, appealed the decision but lost.
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 2012 and that Vinovalie did not record the manipulation in their official documents.
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