Low alcohol wine ban is lifted
British consumers will soon be able to purchase a low alcohol wine 2 years after it was banned by the French government. The wine is from the Domaine de la Colombette in the Languedoc under the brand name 'Plume' in red, white and rose at 9% alcohol.
Two years ago the wine was to be listed by Tesco but French wine authorities argued that their reverse-osmosis dealcoholisation process could not be legally exported as French wine and the product was recalled.
Colombette successfully challenged the ruling, firstly on the grounds that selling to the UK should not be classified by the EU as an 'export' because the UK is part of the EU. And secondly, from 1 August 2009, reverse-osmosis will become a legitimate technique for wine production.
