Wine Club 46: Mas des Bressades Rosé, Grand Claret Red Bordeaux

Date: May 30th, 2013
Host: Kim
Served: pulled pork sandwiches, potato chips, fruit salad, caramel with sea salt ice cream bars
Bonus bottle (from the host's personal inventory): Chateau Thivin Côte de Brouilly 2010 (Beaujolais, France)

Mas des Bressades Rosé 2012 (Costières de Nîmes, France) 50% Grenache + 30% Syrah + 20% Cinsault, 13.5% alcohol, $11 on sale at Whole Foods

Kim says (9.5): Huh. For the score, you'd assume there was something bad about this wine but that was not the case... simply a matter of being average. First impression was the aroma of wet adhesive, like when you first lick an envelope but only for a second. And then musty, maraschino cherries. The taste? Uhh... nothing. Nada. Observe a sad moment of silence. Interestingly enough, while there was no flavor and the sides of my tongue (tannins), front (sugar) and back (acid) were quite bored, this wine was all mid-palate!

Andrea says (13): Pretty color, like watermelon or strawberry candy. Nice smell of pear and strawberry, honey and maybe bubble gum (but that could just be because of the color). Taste was not strong and hard to pick out predominant flavors, maybe some honey. Nice acid, slightly tart. Was just ok with the pork, but very good with the fruit salad.

Christine says (14): True to my word, I jumped at the chance to try a Costières de Nîmes again, even though we all got a laugh out of the Terre des Chardons Marginal. Besides, I'm a sucker for rosé and I couldn't resist this one's pretty pale watermelon color. It smelled like strawberries and minerals, with a sweet, slight whiff of granulated sugar. For taste, I got alcohol, a nice streak of acidity, and not as much fruit as expected. Plus a medium-long finish that tasted like twigs...a bit like a rose bush. I only found the wine average to good. Not special, and no great shakes with the picnicky food that Kim prepared.


Grand Claret Red Bordeaux 2011 (Côtes de Bordeaux, France) 13.5% alcohol, $11 on sale at Whole Foods

Kim says (13.5): I did make note that my allergies were bothering me today, which might explain the 5-ish point discrepancy between the three of us for both wines! At any rate, I liked the color- vibrant edges and surprisingly translucent. I couldn't pick out any particular aroma in this one except possibly coffee. This Bordeaux was the opposite of the Rosé... very good aroma and I enjoyed the taste but the extremely high tannins wrecked it for me... almost sticky.

Andrea says (17): I really liked this wine! A nice burgandy color with hints of violet and a clear edge. Very berry smell! Lots of different aromas: smokey, coffee, licorice, current, raisin, and red apple peel. The taste was a little thin, high alcohol but nice tannins. Tasted like berry and raisin. Christine mentioned plum which I think nailed the flavor. I liked the Beaujolis best with the pulled pork, but this was also very good.

Christine says (18.5): I was seduced by the sign in-store that described this wine, even though I thought the label had a lot of puffery (like putting "Grand" in the title to make it feel, well, a whole lot grander than an $11 Bordeaux). I was not disappointed! The wine was burgundy, with clear edges. It had lots of red and black berries in the bouquet, plus chocolate, a soft and fresh green stemminess, and plums and violets, too. Andrea smelled red apple peel, which I could also detect. Nice plummy taste, a little thin, herbaceous finish. I liked!


Christine and I opened a 2010 Beaujolais while Andrea battled the traffic... fortunately, she arrived on time and we were able to share the bottle together!


For whatever reason, I was actually nervous about this meal... I think it was because I'd never used a slow cooker before. But it turned out great and with only three ingredients, this recipe is a definite keeper! Next time I will use bone-in pork shoulder, be sure to use enough root beer to cover the meat and shorten the cooking time to six hours. Also noteworthy... the pretzel buns, Sweet Baby Ray's and creamy coleslaw (rather than the oil and vinegar version) was a winning combination. In an attempt to have something healthy on our plate, the fruit salad was an easy addition... I tossed in some blueberries for contrast.

The potato chips go in the sandwich, of course!



Christine says: One helluva sandwich. Amazing on the pretzel bun with chips and creamy coleslaw. I felt like I died and went to heaven! Wonderful Kim gave us take-home packs to enjoy the leftovers for lunch. Oh, yeah! Beautiful w/ the Beaujolais bonus. My favorite wine club dinner yet!