MAS de Bressades

France – Southern

Mas de Bressades is a leading domaine in the Costières de Nimes. Costieres de Nimes offers a range of wines that are close to Australian GSM, rich, powerful wines with the adding touch of elegance and another major asset: small price.

Mas de Bressades is run by the Marés family, having been established by father Roger Marés in the 1970s. Marés had owned the property since 1965, but only got around to replacing the fruit and almond trees with vines in 1977. His son, Cyril Marés now looks after the property, after extensive wine-making experience abroad. The vineyards cover 22 hectares in all, with a wide variety of varieties planted.

This is a modern, quality orientated operation, just the formula to encourage other producers in this appellation to raise their performance. There is a new cellar, built in 1998, which houses a mixture of new and old oak barrels. There are a number of cuvées produced here, but the two main red cuvées are Cuvée Excellence, a Syrah-dominated blend, and Cuvée Tradition, a traditional although unoaked southern blend of Syrah and Grenache. Mas de Bressades is arguably in the court of the 3 best estates of the region. Reviewed by Robert Parker on a yearly basis, with ratings up to 92.