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!

♥ Wine Club 39: One Honey of a Wine

Date: March 21st, 2013
Host: Christine

Served: taco meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, chocolate creme pie

♥ Honey Badger Sweet Red 2011 (South Africa), 95% Shiraz + 5% Pinotage, 12.5% alcohol, $9.99 at Discount Liquor in Manitowoc

     ♥ Love love love ♥ : This wine scored 18 or higher with each of us.

Christine says (19): Pretty raspberry color with fuchsia. Smelled of red berries (mostly raspberries, but strawberries, too) and jam, plus a hint of sweet, edible tangerine peel and tobacco. For taste, my first thought was "Wow!" It was very much like brown sugar, plus tangerines. Lively and jumping off of the palate. Sweet and good. I would love this with cheese! Or other picnic foods. The wine was good with a chill on it...warmed up at room temp for 1/2 hour out of the frig seemed perfect to me. I loved it.

Andrea says (19): This would be a great wine for people who say that they don't like red wines. Sweet and fruity. Smelled like strawberry, blackberry, citrus-maybe tangerine and jam. My first taste was of honey and strawberry, next I could taste tangerine and grape. A delicious light, bright red. Highly recommended, great with dessert (thanks for the suggestion T.B.).

Kim says (19): Holy grapes, Batman! Throw the words "honey" and "sweet" around and I am already inclined to dislike it but that was not the case with this lovely find! A very pretty color... vibrant and warm. Smelled wonderfully of berries (red), kiwi and bananas. Tasted like fruit and brown sugar. Even served below room temperature, this wine had a nice, long finish... like I had just finished a mouthful of deliciously ripe berries. Note to self... try with Andrea's dreamy apricot baked brie!

Terre des Chardons Marginal 2009 (Costières de Nîmes, France), Grenache + Syrah, 13.5% alcohol, $9.99 on sale at Waterford

Christine says (11): We've often snickered over the previous months, wondering if this wine would live up to its marginal name. In that regard, it did not disappoint! It looked very thick in the glass, with an intense deep blood-red color. It smelled like Dwight Schrute's farm: barnyard and beets. By beets, I mean earthy, sweet and fresh. A hint of the spices I put into pickled beets (cloves, allspice, peppercorns, bay leaves). It was a chewy wine. I didn't like how much I had to think about it. I'd be disappointed, too, if I were that customer who dropped $27 apiece for a case of this stuff. I was starting to feel like an 11 score was generous as I struggled to finish my glass. Though I've never had a Costières de Nîmes, I felt like this example had a lot of terroir. I'd try the region again.

Andrea says (11.5): This was an interesting wine that I was eager yet nervous to try. I had purchased it at Waterford for $9.99 marked down from $27.00. A discount like that made me curious. An employee told us that customers had been put off by the scent. It had a dark maroon color, almost bloody, and very thick, you couldn't see through it. The first smell was pretty awful,  burnt rubber and asphalt.With some heavy swirling I could smell berry, licorice, sweetness, apples, and something earthy. The taste was berry but mixed with chemicals and rubber. It was interesting and very complex. It actually went well with the meal, but I certainly didn't give it a $27.00 score....

Kim says (14.5): You know how you look too hard at something and then it kind of shifts right in front of you? Yep, that's what Marginal did. This wine was deep burgundy in color and so dark that it made me think of thick, velvet drapes. The up side- no hint of brown. The down side- the instant and overwhelming smell of barnyard funk and asphalt. Also (on about the 30th inhale in my stubborn attempt to find something redeeming about this wine), the oh-so-faint and barely discernable tease of carmelized onons and wet cardboard (in that order). Unfortunately, it also tasted exactly what it smelled like... sharp, burnt, acrid, chemical. But when I took a significant mouth full (again, stare long enough and you might see something different), I could pick up on the hidden spice and something vaguely sweet. Would I buy this for myself? Perhaps. Would I serve it to someone else? Heck no. But it did pair very well with Christine's delicious taco meatloaf!

My maiden voyage with the Taco Meat Loaf recipe was a success! I baked it at 350 degrees instead of using the slow cooker (glazed after baking for 50 minutes).  I used 1/2 pack each of taco and fajita seasoning instead of 1 pack of taco, because it was what I had on hand. I added 1/3 tsp. chili powder. This was a delicious make-again. I added sour cream and paprika to the mashed potatoes. I bought a chocolate pie, anticipating that Andrea would bring red wine. : )