Italians to form coalition against EU rosé proposals

    Rosé producers in Italy have joined forces to fight EU proposals to allow the mixing of red and white wines to make rosé.

    Two Lake Garda rosé associations � Bardolino and Garda Classico are working together for the first time since they were created in 1968.

    'We must be against a European law that allows the mixing of red and white wines to produce rosé,' Sante Bonomo, president of the Garda Classico consortium, told decanter.com.

    'It would be a complete humiliation for rosé producers and those who drink it. This new way of producing wine would be damaging for the entire wine world. Not only would the European Community be legalising a false product, they would be standardising low quality products.'

    Bonomo and Giorgio Tommassi, president of the Bardolino consortium, have signed and sent a letter to the Italian Minister for Agriculture, Luca Zaia, and the President of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso, asking them not approve the new regulations.

    The associations also have collected 1,500 signatures from wine journalists, producers, politicians and wine lovers for a public petition.

    The producers are not only concerned about the market being flooded with cheaply made 'pink-coloured' wine but also about the effect a proposed labelling system  indicating whether rosé wines have been made with traditional methods - would have.

    The groups hope to attract producers from Apulia and Abruzzo to form a larger Italian coalition to oppose the reforms.

    The EU wine reform management committee was due to vote on the proposed regulations on 27 April, but will now meet on 19 June, after the World Trade Organisation requested more time to scrutinise the proposals.