For the fourth year running, a hundred restaurants in the Dordogne will help bring romance to Valentine’s Day by delivering a rose alongside every order of locally produced rosé wine, ‘Rosette’.

Rosette is a local brand produced by several small vineyards located just outside of Bergerac. Described as “soft”, “very fruity”, “tangy but not honeyed” by SudOuest.com, Rosette’s rosé wine has been a staple of Valentine’s Day in the Dordogne for the past four years.

According to Nicole Mauvry, one of the vineyard owners, the ‘Operation Valentine’ promotion has brought new customers every year since 2007. She hopes that this year will continue the trend and help build new relationships between wine lovers and their pink wine.

Mauvry says that rosé has become increasingly popular among young, modern winemakers who are producing for a younger market of customers who are less concerned with classical vintages. She says that over recent years prejudices around Bergerac and the Dordogne-perigord region against rosé has fallen, with the initial reluctance of restaurateurs and wine merchants overcome by their customer’s increasing demand for the light red wine.

In France, rosé sales have actually outpaced those of white wine and though the biggest producer of the blend is in California, the small local vineyards of areas like Dordogne are commonly regarded as among the best. Sudouest reports that unlike some producers who simply blend red with white wine to impart colour, the Rosette vineyards produce a clearer, sweeter tasting wine by ensuring that the ‘tannin’ which is distinctive to strong red wine is removed.

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2. Foncaussade Wine – Available in Waitrose
3. Dordogne couple win’s 4 million euros
4. ‘Bio Co-op’ supermarket opens in the Dordogne
5. Dordogne vineyard wins 3 silver awards for 2009

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