Wine myths
Rosé is red and white wine mixed together
“Rosé is just red wine and white wine blended.”
For still rosé in the EU, blending red and white wine is prohibited. For sparkling rosé it is permitted, and rosé Champagne is frequently made exactly that way.
The full answer
Still rosé gets its colour from brief contact between the juice and black grape skins — by direct pressing, by a short maceration, or by bleeding juice off a red fermentation. EU wine law prohibits producing still rosé by blending red and white wine.
Sparkling wine is the deliberate exception in that law, and it is not a loophole anybody is embarrassed about: adding a proportion of still red wine to the blend is a normal, long-established way of making rosé Champagne, and it gives the producer far more control over colour than maceration does.
Outside the EU the rules differ, so "never" is the wrong word globally as well.
Blending really is how a great deal of rosé Champagne is made, so the person saying this has usually met a real example.
Why the belief persists
Both the rule and its exception are true, and each half circulates without the other.
What producers in a particular place conventionally do. Distinct from a regulated requirement: convention is what happens, regulation is what is compulsory, and confusing the two is one of the commonest errors in regional wine writing.
What would settle it: Documented practice in the region diverging from the stated convention.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 — Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets — European Union
- Comité Champagne — Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne
- WSET educational materials and the Systematic Approach to Tasting — Wine & Spirit Education Trust