Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Gamay Noir
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a blend of old vines predominantly hailing from the northern reaches of the appellation, the 2021 Moulin-à-Vent exudes aromas of heliotrope and rose petals, cherries, red plums, oak leaf and sweet spices. The medium to full-bodied wine offers an anchor of fine-knit, powdery tannins with lines of succulent acids that emphasize the tanginess of the concentrated cherry fruit flavors and highlight the complementary layers of dried herbs and cracked peppercorns underneath, culminating in a wispy, salivating finish marked with lasting flavor and a slight patina of cedar spice.
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Wine Spectator
Gentle-edged and lean, in line with the vintage, with licorice and cassis notes spilling out on a nicely supple palate. This is drinking beautifully now, showing mineral intrigue, with hints of warm spices and grilled herbs. Finishes bright, with a kiss of orange peel acidity and a smoked pepper detail. Drink now through 2028. 1,000 cases made, 250 cases imported.
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.