Gamay

Alex’s is an exemplary Beaujolais-Villages, made the traditional way, using carbonic maceration and neutral (stainless steel) vessels. Expect lifted aromas of violets and red berries, lashings of juicy fruit on the palate, and a long, mineral finish – a nod to the protrusions of blue granite throughout Alex’s vineyards. In the region, a fresh, fruity Beaujolais-Villages like this might be paired with anything from charcuterie to roast chicken to a friture (akin to fried whitebait, traditionally fished from the Saône river) which illustrates just how versatile it is. It also makes a mouth-watering apéritif.
Will Heslop – Burgundy Buying Assistant, autumn 2018

The 2017 is the best vintage I’ve tasted of Rocaillère’s old-vine Beaujolais. On the nose, expect aromas of summer pudding and violets, while the palate offers something more profound: grippy tannins and a pronounced mineral character, which speaks of the vineyard’s shallow, rocky (granitic) soils. This super wine is at its vivacious best served lightly chilled, as an accompaniment to charcuterie or hard cheeses.
Will Heslop, Burgundy Buying Assistant (winter 2019)

Alex’s is an exemplary Beaujolais-Villages, made the traditional way, using carbonic maceration and neutral (stainless steel) vessels. Expect lifted aromas of violets and red berries, lashings of juicy fruit on the palate, and a long, mineral finish – a nod to the protrusions of blue granite throughout Alex’s vineyards. In the region, a fresh, fruity Beaujolais-Villages like this might be paired with anything from charcuterie to roast chicken to a friture (akin to fried whitebait, traditionally fished from the Saône river) which illustrates just how versatile it is. It also makes a mouth-watering apéritif.
Will Heslop – Burgundy Buying Assistant, autumn 2018

From the parcel’s oldest vines, this is invariably more concentrated than the standard (non-Vieilles Vignes) Roilette. There’s an attractive savoury note to the nose, as well as the ethereal aromas of flowers and violets synonymous with the best wines of Fleurie. On the palate, expect fresh acidity and fine, chalky tannins. The 2017 is all the more impressive in light of the hail and drought that made for such a challenging vintage.
Will Heslop, Buying Assistant

Really impressive in ’15, with the capacity to improve over the next decade. In keeping with the vintage, there’s more black fruit than red on the nose. The palate is tightly wound, with plenty of fine tannins, mouth-watering acidity and a ‘wet tarmac’ character, speaking of Les Moriers’ granitic soils.
This cuvée is hand-harvested; fermentation is 100% natural; and the wine is aged for 13 months in old oak foudres.
Will Heslop, Buyer. Berry Bros. & Rudd. 

Jean-Marc’s vines at the top of the Côte du Py suffered from hail on May 19th, so his mid-slope south-facing vines – which, he says, are most expressive of the slope’s famous blue granite – had more of a say than usual in the final blend. While this has a hugely attractive bouquet of berry fruit and flowers, it’s the intense mineral character of the palate that makes a real impression. Expect mouth-watering acidity and firm, fine-grained tannins that soften with time in the glass or decanter. There’s plenty of ripe fruit too, courtesy of a relatively warm growing season. A brilliant wine from one of the finest terroirs in Beaujolais, not to mention one of the finest winemakers.
Will Heslop – Burgundy Buying Assistant

Julien Sunier started out with three tiny parcels in Fleurie, Morgon and Régnié. In the decade since, the size of his holdings has increased very little, but Julien’s reputation has grown considerably. He is today regarded as one of the finest makers of the expressive, mineral style of Beaujolais which is putting the region back on the connoisseur’s map.

Explosive aromatics are a hallmark of Julien’s wines. With its beguiling bouquet of summer pudding and violets, Wild Soul is no exception. It is light-bodied, fresh and moreish – in short, everything a Beaujolais Villages should be. Julien buys the grapes for this cuvée from a friend, and uses no sulphur whatsoever during vinification or bottling. Drink now to 2020.

Régnié is situated next to its better-known cousin, Morgon, and this wine displays a little of its neighbour’s structure. It is a blend of parcels; one on sandy granite soils giving mid-palate richness, the other stony gravel which adds spice and structure. This is a fruity and gentle wine to be enjoyed on its own or with simple dishes. 

Recent vintages of Olivier’s Moulin-à-Vent wines have shown a move to a more elegant, less-extracted style, reducing the proportion of new oak That is not to say, however, that he has lost any of the classic pink granite expression for which Moulin-à-Vent is famous. From vines mostly planted in 1937, there is a real energy and concentration here. Rich red fruit combines with smoky pepper notes and a gorgeous floral perfume, while the stony tannins and incredible length point to great ageing potential. Drink 2020-2028.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The excellence of Cru Beaujolais is something I have held dear for some time, but its ageing potential was first brought to my attention when I was served two Moulin-à-Vent wines from 1961 and 1962 produced by Camille Giroud. The freshness and complexity of these wines was simply astonishing and I have since made it something of a personal mission to return these great wines to their rightful place in the cellars and on the tables of the most discerning wine drinkers. The wines in our offer cover a range of styles; whole-bunch, de-stemmed, oaked, unoaked, elegant and floral, dense and structured. This almost endless variety and versatility is what is most fascinating about Gamay grown on Beaujolais’s volcanic soils. What the wines have in common, however, is that they all offer excellent value for money and great drinking pleasure.

Javernières hails from the eponymous lieu-dit, at the foot of the Côte du Py in Morgon. Here, schist gives way to soils of deep clay, resulting in rich, concentrated wines, which pinote (become Pinot-like) as they age. Eighth-generation vigneron Louis-Benoît Desvignes attributes this cuvée’s depth of colour to its long, slow vinification – with no punching down, but a grill to keep the macerating fruit submerged – in open concrete vats. The 2017 is a showstopper, with heady aromas of flowers and savoury spice, and exceptional density on the palate. Only after another year or two, as its massive tannins begin to loosen up, will it reveal the extent of its complexity – fortunately, for the time being, we have a case or two of the ’14 remaining.
Will Heslop, Burgundy Buying Assistant (summer 2018)

Julien’s Fleurie is, in our minds, his finest wine. Raised in old oak barrels from a very famous address in Chambolle-Musigny, this is a classic Fleurie; seductive, perfumed and ethereal. Julien’s winemaking style – using minimal sulphur and intervening as little as possible – ensures that this is a wine which constantly evolves in the glass, morphing from red fruit to black, from brambles to irises and rose petals. A truly complex wine which is rich yet refreshing.

WOW! Or should that be WAW (What A Wine!)? 2015 was lauded as a great vintage in Beaujolais, producing wines of tremendous concentration which, in most cases, will benefit from lengthy cellaring. Olivier’s superb La Rochelle is bound to age well – as it always does – but isn’t necessarily typical of the vintage: tasting this wine, finesse is the first descriptor that comes to mind, rather than concentration or power. It’s positively aérien, with red fruit and floral notes to the fore. Olivier has gradually reduced the amount of new oak on this cuvée, and that seems a wise decision.
La Rochelle is an extraordinary vineyard for numerous reasons. Its eighty-year old vines are planted at a density of 12,000 per hectare (10,000 gives one metre between each vine). The granite bedrock lies close enough to the surface to peak through in places. The consequences for us, the lucky drinkers, include a pronounced mineral character to wine. In a warm vintage like 2015, it renders La Rochelle reminiscent of something from the Northern Rhône – let’s not forget, Moulin à Vent is, geographically, much closer to Côte-Rôtie than the Côte d’Or.
In short, this is a cheerful, supremely enjoyable wine, with a rare degree of complexity and serious capacity to develop over the next decade and beyond.
Will Heslop, Buyer. Berry Bros. & Rudd

Although from the same variety (100 percent Gamay), Thibault Ligier-Belair's concentrated, complex Beaujolais is poles apart from the bright and breezy nouveau style with which most drinkers are familiar. From eight parcels of vines of up to 95 years old, on the nose this shows an appealing hint of reduction which gives way to aromas of kirsch and dark berry fruit. The palate is characteristically mineral and tannic, and will benefit from decanting. Drink now to 2029.

It’s now one of the wine trade’s worst kept secrets that the Beaujolais Crus can be a source of great-value, age-worthy wines such as this. The nose combines ripe red fruit with spicy, savoury notes, while the fresh, mineral palate sings of the distinctive granite slopes of Moulin-à-Vent. Drinking brilliantly now with charcuterie or turkey sandwiches, but it will continue to gain complexity – to pinote (become more Pinot-like) in the local parlance – over the next decade or more.
Will Heslop, Burgundy Buying Assistant (winter 2018)

The 2013 Moulin-à-Vent Les Rouchaux spent 12 to 15 months in barrel. Compared to the 2013 La Roche, the fruit here is less broody and more open, some red cherries beginning to appear with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a lightly spiced opening, chalky tannin, and a focused, intense finish that leaves boysenberry and citrus fruit on the aftertaste. This is an excellent, modern-style Moulin-à-Vent.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - robertparker.com - Apr 2015

Though happily established in Nuits-St Georges, Thibault trained at a viticultural college in Beaujolais where ancestors of his once had vines. Starting with the 2009 vintage, Thibault has begun to build up a portfolio of vineyards within the appellation of Moulin-à-Vent. His wines are some of the most fabulous we have ever tasted from the region. This is the first vintage made from two small plots of ancient vines, planted in 1879 and 1882. The vines appear to be ungrafted – a moment of pre-phylloxera history! No new barrels have been used, to allow the fruit to speak for itself.

With an intense, full purple colour, the bouquet has a lively, lifted quality far removed from simple Beaujolais. The wine is incredibly velvety on the palate, yet refreshed by excellent minerality. Very suave and long.

Olivier was like a cat with two tails when he was able to buy this superb plot of vines, planted in 1937 on one of Moulin à Vent’s top terroirs. Olivier’s vinification delivers wines without the deepest colour but with exceptional depth of flavour and amazing persistence. This will reveal multiple layers with maturity.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer).

Brilliant ruby. Suave red and blue fruit aromas show excellent clarity and are enlivened by smoky mineral and Indian spice flourishes. Sappy, sweet and expansive, offering intense boysenberry, cherry liqueur and floral pastille flavors and a hint of white pepper. Conveys a suave blend of richness and vivacity and finishes with smooth tannins and an intense echo of sweet blue fruit.
92 Points. Drinking window: 2018-2023
Josh Raynolds, vinous.com, June 2016

Thibault has made this cuvée since the 2009 vintage, having identified the site as special and isolated it from the blended Vieilles Vignes wine. The vines are at the bottom of the hill, on quite deep soils with a mix of blue/pink sandy granite and silt. The result is a rounded and soft expression of Moulin-à-Vent, arguably the most approachable of the range. There is a spicy, peppery Syrah note to the nose, then a touch of black olive and rich, concentrated red-black fruit, with sophisticated, silky tannins on the palate. Drink 2020-2026.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The excellence of Cru Beaujolais is something I have held dear for some time, but its ageing potential was first brought to my attention when I was served two Moulin-à-Vent wines from 1961 and 1962 produced by Camille Giroud. The freshness and complexity of these wines was simply astonishing and I have since made it something of a personal mission to return these great wines to their rightful place in the cellars and on the tables of the most discerning wine drinkers. The wines in our offer cover a range of styles; whole-bunch, de-stemmed, oaked, unoaked, elegant and floral, dense and structured. This almost endless variety and versatility is what is most fascinating about Gamay grown on Beaujolais’s volcanic soils. What the wines have in common, however, is that they all offer excellent value for money and great drinking pleasure.

The Vieilles Vignes is effectively Thibault’s Moulin-à- Vent business card, a blend of 10 parcels spread across seven hectares, with vines between 65 and 105 years of age. The 2016 vintage is the first for which he has used large foudres to raise the wine. There is a wonderful, old-vine intensity and concentration to this wine, great depth of flavour and power, but without reaching excess. The granite soil really comes through on the persistent, saline finish. Drink 2021-2029.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The excellence of Cru Beaujolais is something I have held dear for some time, but its ageing potential was first brought to my attention when I was served two Moulin-à-Vent wines from 1961 and 1962 produced by Camille Giroud. The freshness and complexity of these wines was simply astonishing and I have since made it something of a personal mission to return these great wines to their rightful place in the cellars and on the tables of the most discerning wine drinkers. The wines in our offer cover a range of styles; whole-bunch, de-stemmed, oaked, unoaked, elegant and floral, dense and structured. This almost endless variety and versatility is what is most fascinating about Gamay grown on Beaujolais’s volcanic soils. What the wines have in common, however, is that they all offer excellent value for money and great drinking pleasure.

The Lafarges used 15 percent whole-bunch across the range in 2016, with a mixture of remontage and gentle pigeage. Having begun the project in 2014 using 228-litre barrels from Domaine Lafarge, they are generally moving towards foudres and larger barrels as they learn more about Gamay on granite soils. This wine comes from just over a hectare of 60-year-old vines planted on decomposed granite soils on a steep slope opposite La Madone. There is lovely purity on the nose, while the palate is complex and fine, with rounded tannins. There is a good weight of crunchy red-berry fruit and a firm but precise granitic structure which points to good ageing potential. Drink 2020-2025.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The excellence of Cru Beaujolais is something I have held dear for some time, but its ageing potential was first brought to my attention when I was served two Moulin-à-Vent wines from 1961 and 1962 produced by Camille Giroud. The freshness and complexity of these wines was simply astonishing and I have since made it something of a personal mission to return these great wines to their rightful place in the cellars and on the tables of the most discerning wine drinkers. The wines in our offer cover a range of styles; whole-bunch, de-stemmed, oaked, unoaked, elegant and floral, dense and structured. This almost endless variety and versatility is what is most fascinating about Gamay grown on Beaujolais’s volcanic soils. What the wines have in common, however, is that they all offer excellent value for money and great drinking pleasure.

From a parcel totalling 0.66 hectares, these 55-yearold vines are planted on blue granite soil on the Mont de Brouilly. A quarter was whole-bunch fermented. The nose has rich, almost black fruit and a touch of garrigue spice, while the palate is stony with meaty black cherry and a firm, mineral texture. Drink 2021-2028.

Michel Lafarge (b. 1928) and his son Frédéric make use of their combined experience to produce some of the greatest wines in Volnay. There is nothing modern in their winemaking, though the meticulous care of their biodynamically farmed vineyards puts the domaine at the forefront of viticultural practices. When they are working on a patch of vines they are usually accompanied by their hens who eat up any lurking pests. The grapes are de-stemmed, vinified traditionally and very little new oak is used in the cellar. In 2014, they purchased vineyards in the Beaujolais which are farmed using the same biodynamic practices as employed in the Côte de Beaune.

Frédéric was keen to highlight the solidarity shown between vignerons at the end of April, as they mobilised to put in place measures to prevent a repeat of the frosts of 2016. Burning dampened straw bales at strategic locations, they succeeded in creating cloud cover which saved the vast majority of the vineyards. He also stressed the importance of “fractional harvesting” – waiting until each parcel is fully ripe before picking – and feels that the domaine’s biodynamic practices allow the grapes to achieve even ripening and balance, a real boon in early vintages such as 2017. For those with long memories, 90-year-old Michel compares 2017 to 1947 and 1964

Despite being made in the same way as Les Rouchaux (in a large oak foudre), this is a real contrast, highlighting the different terroirs. The character is much cooler, reflecting the windy and fresh microclimate. The nose is packed with vibrant raspberry and strawberry fruits, while the palate is the purest of strawberry. Simply gorgeous, with 30 percent whole-bunch. Drink 2021-2030.

Thibault continues to keep himself busy, having bought more vineyards in Moulinà-Vent. In the Côte d’Or he waited until 13th September to pick, feeling that the skins were not ripe until that point. He describes the vintage as transparent, where each vineyard’s identity is clearly visible, and one where those with large yields will not be able to hide. In the Beaujolais, hail was again a significant factor, reducing the average yield for those wines he made to an eye-watering 8hl/ha. The damage was so bad that it cost more to pick the grapes than he will make on the wines, but he felt a duty to harvest and vinify the fruit. With careful use of the vibrating sorting table, he was able to carefully select only the clean fruit and has made exceptional wines.

This site is just underneath the eponymous  Moulin-à-Vent itself, with vines planted almost directly onto the granite bedrock. The fruit is red and there’s a salty, granitic tang to the wine. There is some richness but also a real austerity that comes not from extraction, but from the soil itself. Everything comes at the finish and lingers. Gorgeous. There’s 30 percent whole-bunch here. Drink 2024-2035.

Thibault continues to keep himself busy, having bought more vineyards in Moulinà-Vent. In the Côte d’Or he waited until 13th September to pick, feeling that the skins were not ripe until that point. He describes the vintage as transparent, where each vineyard’s identity is clearly visible, and one where those with large yields will not be able to hide. In the Beaujolais, hail was again a significant factor, reducing the average yield for those wines he made to an eye-watering 8hl/ha. The damage was so bad that it cost more to pick the grapes than he will make on the wines, but he felt a duty to harvest and vinify the fruit. With careful use of the vibrating sorting table, he was able to carefully select only the clean fruit and has made exceptional wines.

Raised in a large foudre, this was one of the more generous cuvées in terms of yields (at 19hl/ha). The nose is a delight, with gorgeous, peppery spice and floral touches, while the palate offers dense, rich fruit and silky tannins. It’s seductive, but with the peppery structure behind to age. Thibault used 40 percent whole-bunch. Drink 2020-2026.

Thibault continues to keep himself busy, having bought more vineyards in Moulinà-Vent. In the Côte d’Or he waited until 13th September to pick, feeling that the skins were not ripe until that point. He describes the vintage as transparent, where each vineyard’s identity is clearly visible, and one where those with large yields will not be able to hide. In the Beaujolais, hail was again a significant factor, reducing the average yield for those wines he made to an eye-watering 8hl/ha. The damage was so bad that it cost more to pick the grapes than he will make on the wines, but he felt a duty to harvest and vinify the fruit. With careful use of the vibrating sorting table, he was able to carefully select only the clean fruit and has made exceptional wines.