La Révolution du Rosé: How A Ridiculed Wine Became A Winner

An upcoming hour-long documentary, “La Révolution du Rosé: How a Ridiculed Wine Became a Winner,” which explores the explosive rise in popularity of rosé!

Released: 2017
Running Time: 60 mins

It was once mocked as a sickeningly sweet alcoholic beverage, consumed only at college frat parties or on cheap dates. It was ridiculed as a “gateway” drink for those making the transition from soda to something a half-notch more sophisticated.  But rosé has now recently surpassed white wine sales in France, and rosé imports to the U.S. are increasing 50 percent annually.
Its status among even connoisseurs has risen to the point that it is taken seriously by the famously snobbish wine industry — receiving awards and recommendations on par with its red and white cousins. Rosé is being featured unabashedly in upscale wine shops and fancy restaurants.

What happened? How did the belittled beverage that once left drinkers with morning-after headaches suddenly become the second most popular wine in France, and a new darling among American wine lovers?

San Francisco-based video journalist Ken Kobré, whose summer home in Provence is surrounded by vineyards, wondered about all that, and he set out to make a short local video to satisfy his own curiosity. The more he learned, the more fascinated he became with the unexpectedly arcane and exotic world of rosé wine, where perception trumps reality.

Kobré’s pursuit took him to three continents and four countries — France, Italy, South Africa, and California — and opened his eyes not only to how wine is produced, from grape-growing to grocery aisles, but to the inside secrets of how it is cleverly marketed and promoted.

Watch the trailer:

Director: Ken Kobré
Co-Producer, editor: John Hewitt

Starring:
Kermit Lynch
Frederica Stanton
Valerie Lelong
Robert Sinskey