Drink pink! France develops a taste for rosé wine as a year-round favourite as sales of red wine plummet
- Rose has overtaken red wine as the tipple of choice for younger French drinkers
The French once dismissed it as a ‘swimming pool drink’ – only to be enjoyed in summer.
But it seems they have developed a taste for rosé wine, while sales of red are plummeting.
Winemakers say customers are increasingly opting for lighter wines with lower alcohol content, and are particularly popular with young people.
The lighter wine is now proving to be a year-round favourite across the country – just as red wine is falling out of favour.
Demand for bottles of Bordeaux still remain high globally, with red wine constituting 40 per cent of its annual wine production, but domestic demand has halved since the 1990s.
UK-based drinks expert Helen McGinn picks out a selection of the best rosés to pair with a variety of dishes (file image)
READ MORE: FORGET REDS! GET IN THE PINK WITH WINTER ROSE
Independent winemaker Thomas Montagne, who produces red, white and rose wines at his Luberon vineyard in the south of France, said: ‘In the 1990s we had the “French paradox”, where studies showed that red wine was good for your health. Now people, especially the young, are turning to rose wines, which are easier to drink, contain fewer tannins and feel more festive.’
A spokesman for regional winemakers said that burgundy vineyards are now producing half as much red wine compared to two decades ago, while white wine production has increased.
They said: ‘I was surprised to discover it [rose] was being drunk in winter. The drop in the popularity of red wine is due to an erosion of clientele – with people drinking less overall – and because the occasions to do so are disappearing.
‘The younger generations are eating less meat and shunning reds in favour of whites or roses.’
Even former president Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni have jumped on the trend after launching their own rose called Roseblood.
A staggering 830million gallons of wine are produced every year in France, of which 29 per cent are whites and 19 per cent are roses.
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