Winemaker Notes
The 2022 La Rochelle offers an exquisite sensory experience. Its bouquet is a harmonious blend of aromatic sage and fresh herbs, complemented by intriguing hints of flint that add depth and complexity. On the palate, this wine reveals itself to be both intricate and captivating, with a structure characterized by supple tannins that provide a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine has an earthy nose of black cherry and black plum, rhubarb and the faintest suggestion of licorice. On the palate grippy, youthful tannins show their aging potential in the cuvee that still has a lot more to give. Drink now to 2040.
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James Suckling
A precise, succulent, driven and crunchy Moulin-a-Vent. The nose shows cherries, frozen raspberries, sliced strawberries, wild herbs and some crushed peppercorns. Medium-bodied with fine tannins and fresh acidity. Round and velvety, with a succulent center palate. Tangy and energetic, with a tight, focused and peppery finish that shows excellent length. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Moulin-à-Vent La Rochelle, from three different sites within the lieu-dit with sandy topsoil over a colluvium clay subsoil, vividly reflects its terroir. Its expressive bouquet features freshly cut stems, petals, licorice, berries and tree sap. On the palate, it is compact yet rounded, with finely textured tannins offering gentle resistance, balancing the silken fruit layer above. The wine's vibrant energy and impressive length leave a lasting impression of finesse and vitality.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant, streaming style,with tangy acidity underscoring black plum, lavender and pepper notes, plus singed potpourri and sandalwood smoke accents. Polished tannins glide through,with acidic verve making for a refined, balanced profile. The finish is fluid, long and mineral-rich.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
The bucolic region often identified as the southern part of Burgundy, Beaujolais actually doesn’t have a whole lot in common with the rest of the region in terms of climate, soil types and grape varieties. Beaujolais achieves its own identity with variations on style of one grape, Gamay.
Gamay was actually grown throughout all of Burgundy until 1395 when the Duke of Burgundy banished it south, making room for Pinot Noir to inhabit all of the “superior” hillsides of Burgundy proper. This was good news for Gamay as it produces a much better wine in the granitic soils of Beaujolais, compared with the limestone escarpments of the Côte d’Or.
Four styles of Beaujolais wines exist. The simplest, and one that has regrettably given the region a subpar reputation, is Beaujolais Nouveau. This is the Beaujolais wine that is made using carbonic maceration (a quick fermentation that results in sweet aromas) and is released on the third Thursday of November in the same year as harvest. It's meant to drink young and is flirty, fruity and fun. The rest of Beaujolais is where the serious wines are found. Aside from the wines simply labelled, Beaujolais, there are the Beaujolais-Villages wines, which must come from the hilly northern part of the region, and offer reasonable values with some gems among them. The superior sections are the cru vineyards coming from ten distinct communes: St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Any cru Beajolais will have its commune name prominent on the label.