This is a general description. Today, winemakers in the region are trying to add details.
On April 17, Moulin-à-Vent winemakers will ask French regulatory authorities to grant premier cru status to 14 of their best lieu-dits. It is no coincidence since on this date, in 1924, Moulin-à-Vent became the first Beaujolais terroir to benefit from an Appellation of Origin. In 1936, it won the more official and national Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, or AOC. Moulin-à-Vent now joins Fleury and Brouilly, candidates for premier cru status last year. Petitions will take years before a decision is made – that’s bureaucracy, after all, and French bureaucracy at that. Meanwhile, winemakers will try to convince us that their wines deserve promotion.
A bit of context: Beaujolais is made from the Gamay grape, which was banned from Burgundy by Philippe the Bold, then Duke of Burgundy, in 1395, in favor of his favorite Pinot Noir. This may have initiated Beaujolais into second-tier status compared to its famous northern neighbor. The region’s soil is generally described as granitic, compared to the prestigious limestone of Burgundy. Recent advances in soil science have added detail to the region’s soil map: Moulin-à-Vent also has volcanic, sedimentary, marly and limestone soils, although the proposed premier cru sites are on granite. Initiated in 2009 throughout Beaujolais, these soil studies have fueled the dynamics of premier cru by mapping the link between soil and wine.
There is also a link with the weather. “In cooler years, the wines can resemble Burgundy pinot noirs,” explains Brice Laffond, winemaker at Château du Moulin-à-Vent. “In more ripe years, they taste more like northern Rhône syrahs. » With climate change, this link with the Rhône could strengthen.
The quality of Moulin-à-Vent was demonstrated during my recent visit to the region. The current 2020 releases were still good, earthy wines with strong extraction and body suggesting the ability to age for several years. Château des Jacques, a venerable estate belonging to the Burgundian giant Maison Louis Jadot, impresses with its classic velvety profile. Château du Moulin-à-Vent, near the iconic windmill that gives its name to the vintage, takes a gentler approach, expressing comfort and quiet confidence rather than power. The wines of Domaine de Colette channeled Montmorency cherries, while Domaine des Vieilles Caves cooked these cherries in a clafoutis. However, they all presented a similarity that spoke of the Beaujolais vintage, and more particularly the Moulin-à-Vent.
Tradition is great, but so is innovation. At Domaine de la Sionnière, Estelle and Thomas Patenôtre complement their joyful wines with a convincing, moody and earthy vintage aged for 18 months in amphora. And Denis Falaize, who abandoned a career as a chemical engineer to make wine closer to his family in Lyon, is making a lighter version of Beaujolais under his Zest Of brand.
Not everyone agrees with the desire to obtain a higher status for Moulin-à-Vent. “It’s too early,” says Charlotte Perrachon, who seems to encourage the Earth to reveal its soul with her wines at Château Bonnet. The premier cru status of Moulin-à-Vent and other appellations could make it more difficult and expensive for young winemakers to purchase land and establish their own estates, she said.
Others believe premier cru status will create opportunities for the region as a whole. “This will show the diversity of our appellation and that we are not just a small territory that produces a single wine,” says Nicolas Loron of Domaine des Fontaines.
A crucial attribute in convincing Parisian bureaucrats that these 14 vineyards deserve premier cru status is the wines’ ability to age. Beaujolais vintages have never been ephemeral and temporary like new ones, but neither have they captured our imagination as being worthy of aging. During my visit, I tasted several older vintages, including a fresh and vibrant 1978 Château des Jacques Clos des Rochegrès and a 1967 from Château du Moulin-à-Vent that had aromas of truffles and wild mushrooms bursting from the glass. .
We may not have many opportunities to taste wines this old, but there are plenty of 2020 and other recent vintages to explore. And they’re delicious, we don’t need a government agency in Paris to tell us that.
