Saint Martin of Tours, Patron of Winemakers, Praises European Commission Decision About Rose'

Saint Martin of Tours, (featured left, and at www.SaintsforSinners.com/saint-martin-of-tours-medal-story.html the Patron of Winemeakers, Grape Growers, Wine Lovers, and New Orleans' "Tales of the Cocktail," has weighed in on the Rose' Wine debate that has rollicked Europe recently. Speaking in Bruges, a small town outside of Brussels, Belguim, Martin declared that "any effort to change the ingredients used in the making of Rose' wine will be rigorously opposed. Rose' is not red wine and Rose' is not white wine and never the three shall meet."

It appears the European Commission and Agricultural Commissioner, Mariann Fisher Boel, have heeded the warning from Saint Martin of Tours. Boel was quoted in the New York Times, on June 9, 2009, stating that the group has "abandoned the proposed changes" that would have signaled end of the traditional creation of Rose' and allow the blending of red and white wines to make Rose'. Before the end of the blending ban was proposed, Rose' had always been made by taking red grapes, crushing them, and then leaving them alone to ferment. Their colorness would disippate because the skin pigments would create a wonderful hue of pink, and voila, Rose'.

According to The New York Times, a spokesman for the European Commission was quoted as saying there had been lots of "ooh-la-la-ing" about the potential change in the recipe for Rose', especially by the French Winemakers. And across the pond, the American singer Billy Joel was no doubt pleased that there will remain 3 choices with regard to wine: "A bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of Rose' instead" since those are the lyrics in "Italian Restaurant," one of the many hits from his classic masterpiece, "The Stranger." We tried to get a quote from Rock and Roller Bruce Springsteen to see what he thought, especially since he is in Europe on Tour, but he was not available. The line from his song "Spirits in the Night" should adequately explain his postion though, "I got a bottle of Rose' so let's try it."