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Well, they may claim to “Sell no wine before its time”…

…but they don’t mention anything about after it…

dumping rose2


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24 comments

    • Kim

    The Paul Masson carafe reminds me of the carafes sold with Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix that everyone had in the 70’s (before we all started mixing our own Hidden Valley Ranch dressing from packets).

    Our rose’ of choice was always Mateus, from which you saved the bottle for melting colored candle wax onto. My best friend’s family always had Lancers, also a good bottle for melting candle wax.

    • David

    Kim: Few people believe me, but I credit those Good Seasoning’s bottles with launching my career as a baker. I loved all that careful measuring!

    But I only liked the tear-shaped bottles with the green tops. Once they switched to the cut-glass round ones, with the plastic stoppers, the magic was over.

    • Dave at Wine Openers

    ‘a picture is worth …’
    I’m curious about how the wine was, what you thought about it (it’s clear what you thought of it)..
    Rosés are making a big comeback after years of mediocrity (at least here nel estati uniti).. it’s refreshing to find many of the current generation rosés are quite good, not at all like the lancers or mateus of a generation ago..
    of course, paul masson shipping rosé to france is like shipping rice to japan…
    ciao…

    • Mona

    LOL! I love that 2nd pic….it says it all!

    • Mark

    I thought their slogan was they “will sell no wine before it is June”? At least that is how I always said it… or was the Gallo?

    • Erin

    You are a brave man. I hope your pallet has forgiven you.

    • januarygypsy

    So many wines have become the butt of inside jokes in my circle for the same reason… Who doesn’t love to hate a really bad wine?

    Just wanted to pop in and say that I really enjoy reading your blog; it almost makes me giggle more than a *good* bottle of wine…

    I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve posted a link to your page on my own blog – I refer so many friends (repeatedly) to you…

    Thanks for the immensely entertaining reading!

    • Matt

    Clever title! I completely forgot about their slogan. Your second picture is beautiful. Those colors in the cascade of wine make me want to stand underneath an icy cold rosé waterfall. Naked.

    • Barbra

    I was wondering if you were actually going to drink it! You sacrifice a lot for your readers, David :)

    • Dave

    I love the photo. The table cloth. The very French chair. The tray. So funny to see that bottle there.

    The grammar-bitch in me is obliged to point out that the possessive of “it” is its — not it’s. But after a carafe or two of Paul Masson I’d be slinging apostrophes around too.

    Oops. Yes, it was definitely the wine. (Although I really can’t use that excuse since after one sniff, I was scared to drink it!) -dl

    • Sean

    Well, you got your money’s worth, didn’t you? :)

    • We Are Never Full

    Hilarious! The first thing I saw was that carafe that reminds me of my childhood in the late 70’s. I feel like in the background of every picture that was taken of me between ages 0 and 5, there were a few of these things in the background. Ok, ok… I wasn’t drinking it, my parents were! Memories. Let’s keep these memories just that – in the past!

    • Laurie

    Too funny!

    • Orson Welles

    Mahaaaaaa the French… champagne has always been celebrated for itssexcelenssse.

    There is a California champagne by Paul Massssson…. inspired by that same French excellence. Itss fermented in the bottle and like the best… French champagne its vinnntagedated. So Paul Masson’s-

    *cut*

    • Another Kim

    This has nothing to do with wine (sadly) but I wanted to say thank you for a much earlier post of yours about making jam with a glut of cherries. That post gave me the guts to try freelancing a little bit with an abundance of sour cherries from my friend Allison’s trees, and the results were delicious: cherry-ginger jam with orange zest, cherry-amaretto jam, and spiced cherry amaretto jam.

    I’m now hooked on your blog… in that sitting-at-the-feet-of-an-expert kind of way. :)

    • Carolyn T

    In the years that my husband and I have traveled all over Europe, it just staggers our understanding – on MOST menus they list Paul Masson. I mean . . . really . . . nobody here in the U.S. drinks Paul Masson. I don’t even think we see it on grocery shelves. I’ve always wondered what the winery does to get that kind of marketing recognition – and to keep getting it. If Europeans order the stuff and think THAT’s what American wine is all about, how sad.

    • lagramiere

    Thank goodness! I would have seriously doubted your “taste” if the result had been anything but…. How about some Bandol rosé??

    • krysalia

    would it be possible to keep this wine and use it as a vinegar for some pickles ? (or do bad wines make not-so-good vinegars ?)

    • Kharina

    Those bottles stored many vinagrettes in my mothers place. She is tee total, never drank a drop out of her own choice which probably explains why I remember those bottles from my childhood (she doesn’t have a clue about booze). And yes, I believe it was my first bottle of wine I bought and thought to myself “why anybody would subject their tastebuds to this sadistic adult juice from hell”.

    • Lu

    David, you are just so dang humorous. What thoughts whirl around in that brain of yours?! I remember the Masson and Lancers bottles lining the windowsill in my first apartment. Did you actually carry this across the pond with you?!

    • Mimi

    I am quite certain the first bottle of wine I bought as a newly legal drinker was Paul Masson. Or perhaps it was Annie Green Springs…

    • Laura Stokes-Gray

    Hoo-boy … I remember those Masson wines in the carafe … let’s see, it was the 70s and I was newly married. At least I didn’t buy Boone’s Farm apple wine.

    David – thanks for a good laugh. How about a little Blue Nun?

    • Wine Educator

    I am a wine educator mostly concentrating on the wines of Europe, especially France and Italy. Paul Masson has had this carafe concept since the 60’s. This current style is only slightly different. Paul Masson was one of the earlier mass market wines from America and one of the first that the French got to know since over 40 years ago when it was exported to France. Marketing is a funny thing. We all buy a lot of stuff that we should have no reason to want. Therefore, it isn’t so strange that the land of Bandol, Tavel, rose d’Anjou and all those from the Rhone valley would show interest in Paul Masson. Rose wines are not serious wines, not even the French ones. The French may well be curious about our roses. Paul Masson may not be superb but their products are wholesome and at reasonable prices. The spirit to try something different is probably more prevalent in France than in America. The carafe is a useful thing to have too. I have no issue with it. Try Mateus again. After all these years, it still stands up quite well as a good refreshing summer rose. The current issues are a bit drier than those of the 70’s to cater to changing taste preference. Don’t be snobs. Just enjoy.

    • the Baron

    “We will sell no wine…before its time.”

    The wine was pretty horrible, still is, I imagine, but the carafes are great for use as water or juice carafes. I have a couple of them that I use just for that. Makes me wish we had saved more of them, back in the 70’s.

    Prost!

A

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