Rose wine with its fresh acidity and bright red fruit flavours works well with many food pairings. I decided to try pairing a bottle of Chateau La Coste 2021 Rosé from Provence, France, with a slow-smoked bbq pork shoulder I cooked using my BBQ. The pork shoulder was covered in a dry rub made with brown sugar, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic and onion powder. It has sweet, spicy, and salty components. After five hours of slow cooking, I let it rest while I opened the Chateau La Coste 2021 Rosé. This wine is EU Organic certified and is vegan-friendly.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Chateau La Coste 2021 Rosé (BC $29.99)
From the winery, “A blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Cabernet. Direct pressing, partly in whole bunches. Low temperature fermentation. Native yeast (50%) and selected yeast (50%). Blending and maturing on fine lees.”
Appearance: a clear, pale pink with an orange tinge.
Nose: Medium intensity fresh aromas of rhubarb and red fruits. The wine had sweeter red fruit aromas with decanting. There was still a rhubarb aroma.
Palate: Dry, round and soft, with a medium-plus body. It also has a texture to it; maybe waxy + mineral? The wine is mouth-filling but has a medium-intensity acidic prickle to make the wine feel fresh. Strawberry and rhubarb flavours primarily but also a touch of bramble leaf or grape stem. The wine had less acidity, was softer with a lighter mouthfeel after decanting. Mostly strawberry flavour but still some bramble leaf or grape stem flavour.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing with red fruits and strawberries, and the acidic prickle on your tongue. A shorter length and less acidity with decanting. Strawberry and some grape stem flavours.
To best enjoy the red fruit flavours and acidity of this wine, don’t decant it. Open and enjoy.
Rating: 
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Rhubarb and red fruit aromas in the glass. Medium-plus body, round and soft but has a medium-intensity acidic prickle to make the wine fresh and give it some backbone. A medium-plus length finishing with red fruits and strawberries plus the lively acidic prickle.
Food and Wine Pairing
Besides the bbq pork, I also had a baked potato topped with butter and cheddar cheese, and a salad made with lettuce from my organic garden. I used a simple salad dressing of olive oil and pepperoncini-infused vinegar, plus salt and pepper. How would this wine pair with these three items? I can tell you now that the sweet and spicy aspects of the bbq pork and the acidity and bright red fruit flavours of this wine were very complimentary. I enjoyed sipping the wine and having a bite of the bbq pork.
But what about the baked potato and the salad? The spicy vinegar and the smoothness of the olive oil in the salad was very complimentary with the red fruit flavours of the wine. The baked potato was very fatty with the mixture of butter and cheddar cheese topping, but the acidity of the wine cut through it and the red fruit flavours complemented the cheddar flavour. So everything, the bbq, salad, and baked potato, all made complementary pairings with this wine. A good choice.
Where Can I Buy This Wine?
You can purchase this wine at BC Liquor stores. https://www.bcliquorstores.com/product/48457
