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GRANDES MISES

MOULIN-À-VENT 2020

MOULIN-À-VENT 2020

click on one of the vintages below for further information
2021 - 2022

Grape varietal

Gamay Noir with with juice.


Tasting notes

Intense ruby red colour.

Frank nose with silky mellow woody notes followed by pleasant and varied aromas of black fruits, spicy and floral, chocolate and roasted coffee notes.

Full-bodied on the palate with flavours of black fruit which echo the nose. Elegant hints of oak and real but velevety tannins showing an ample structure and a very nice length.


Serving suggestions

Best decanted and served at a temperature of 14° to 16°C. (57-60°F.) to discover the aromatic intensity of this wine.


Food and wine pairing

It is perfect with red meats, grilled, roasted or even marinated and strong cheeses.


Ageing potential

This wine can be kept for more than 5 years.


Origins

The appellation gets its name from the presence of an old windmill situated in the middle of the vineyard, which was used to mill grain until the mid 19th Century. The Moulin-A-Vent appellation stretches over the communes of Romaneche-Thorins and Chenas.


Terroir

The soil of Moulin-A-Vent is fairly shallow, permeable and rich in mineral elements especially manganese. Composed of pink-coloured brittle granite.


Vine and soil

From a rigorous selection of a single domaine sourcing. The vineyard benefits from all exposures except the North.

Age of vines: 50 years
Yield: 52 hectolitres / hectare
The vines are pruned “en gobelet” with sustainable farming methods.

The shallow, pink-brown soil is sandy and not very clayey, but clearly acidic, on variegated clays beyond 105 cm, then pebbles, then weathered granite.


Vinification and maturing

The gamay grapes were handpicked and were fully ripe and concentrated.

Burgundy-style vinification, the grapes were 100% de-stemmed but not crushed, then placed in vat by gravity.

The fermentation maceration lasted 25 days with cap-punching, over-pumping and racking before pressing at the end of October.

The wine was then placed into 3 to 5 years old barrels for a long ageing on its fine lees.


Vintage : 2020

Gorgeous colors and mouth-filling wines!

Winter 2019-2020 was the warmest in France since the beginning of the 20th century. There was no hard frost at all. The average temperatures in the Beaujolais region over the first four months of the year were the mildest since 1947!

Very fine grapes that are extremely aromatic. The quantity of the harvest has varied from appellation to appellation and terroir to terroir. Intense colour and good acidity.

 The harvests

18th August: the harvest begins with the Côte de Brouilly (21 days ahead of 2019!)
20th August: Beaujolais Village.
28th August: the whole Beaujolais region is hard at work.
19th September: the harvest finishes.

This year has been marked by tremendous diversity between different plots, these having reacted differently to the extreme weather conditions (lack of rain over much of the year and hot conditions). Some plots have lost a lot of juice, others have coped marvellously well! Several factors account for these differences: the soil, siting and exposure to sunlight, age, the yield of individual vines etc…

As a result, key variables are different from one wine to another. Potential alcohol fluctuates between 12° and 15°. The Gamays have good aromatic potential with a thick epicuticular wax layer (bloom).

This year we have favoured destemming with long maceration periods to really bring out the elegance of this vintage. Obviously, the traditional semi-carbonic maceration approach used in tandem with vendange entière is still called for to draw out our Gamay’s aromatic subtlety, not to mention hot pre-fermentative maceration to extract as much colour as possible from the grapes that were most affected by drought.

Initial tastings, Lydie Nesme.

‘It’s a journey through the senses that’s intense and complex, a real pleasure for the taste buds, with aromas of raspberry, cherry, morello cherry and even pear! It’s a real delight to test the must with all the gorgeous colours it exhibits!

Our Beaujolais’ aromatic palette is a broad one, ranging from raspberry liqueur, ripe Burlat cherries in syrup, smooth crème de cassis and wild blueberry to floral notes of violet, iris and peony, liquorice and dark chocolate. Mouth-filling despite high levels of acidity in some cases. The wines are supple, round and smooth, well-structured with supple, silky tannins. An elegant vintage in the making.’