The debate has raged on for weeks now; winegrower trade unions, and wine producers all over France have appealed to the public to express its opposition to the proposed plan by Brussels to authorise the production of rosé through the process of blending to produce table wines without any specific geographic origin. The latter represents around 10% of rosé wine production in France and overall the production of rosé wine makes up 10 to 12% of French wine production. The issue could have been seen to be minor it has, however, created a heated public debate. On Monday 8th June Marianne Fischer-Boel announced the European Commission’s decision to maintain the ban on making rosé wine by blending red and white wine together to make wines without a specific geographic origin. The European commissioner for Agriculture commented, “It is important to listen to our wine producers when they are worried about changes in EU regulations. It was clear from what we have seen over these last few weeks that the majority of our wine-producing sector thought that to put an end to the ban on blending would taint the traditional image of the rosé wine.” (Source: WineAlley.com)