2011 Moulin a Vent Croix des Verillats

Vivid ruby. Deeply pitched dark berry, cherry compote, licorice and woodsmoke scents show very good clarity, picking up peppery spice and floral pastille qualities with air. Juicy, penetrating and focused, with vibrant blackberry and bitter cherry flavors lifted and brightened by tangy acidity. Shows excellent depth and power, finishing sweet, smoky and very long.

The team here, expressing their satisfaction with last year’s rendition, says they did not change any significant elements of fermentation for the Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent 2011 Moulin-a-Vent Croix des Verillats, and in its elevage only the much more substantial reliance on 350-liter rather than 228-liter barrels. Tasted just ahead of its anticipated end-of-2012 bottling, this evinces cherry and black raspberry with distilled overtones; satisfyingly saline, roasted red meat and chalky undertones; brown spices and vanilla from barrel; and a fine spread of tannin that might well reflect the change made in cooperage. As it takes on air, alluring perfume of wisteria and violets rises from the glass, persisting inner-mouth. The 10,000 bottles of this long-finishing beauty should be well worth seeking out and savoring at least through 2018 (though, to be sure, it is the Chateau’s intention that these prove significantly longer-term vins de garde, and perhaps their expectations will be borne out, though I’m unprepared to predict that). Jean-Jacques Parinet’s team (see my extended introduction in Issue 196 for more on them) continues their ambitious revival of this venerable estate as well as the consolidation of its former vineyard surface. The Chateau now farms a total of 92 acres following acquisition of the formerly (and briefly) Girardin-owned Tour du Bief property, the wines from which will be issued under a separate label that I was not yet able to see, so for now I am reporting on them as part of and under the name of Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent. (For more about the effects of this new ownership, see my notes under “Tour du Bief” in this issue on the wine that Girardin continues to make from a portion of his former holdings.) Around half of the Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent vineyards are now farmed under an organic regimen, which will expand to soon encompass its entirety; and about half the fruit is sold off in bulk so as to retain only the best for estate production, a ratio that may or may not change much depending on how the vines and soils respond to their relatively new owner and the market responds to his wines. I have already expressed in Issue 196 my reservations about the way the new-ish 350- and (for Champ de Cour 50% new) 228-liter barrels have influenced some of these wines. I worry lest the frequent flattery directed toward them as “Burgundy-like” will over-influence the domaine’s approach in the cellar and handicap its ability to reveal the unique distinction of Gamay on great granite soils. I certainly have no reservations, though, about the practice of relatively late-bottling and of late-release for wines intended to be cellared, and the 2011s are only now – in spring, 2013 – poised to enter the market. By any standards, the Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent wines are already impressive. (For notes on the sites they single-out for bottling, consult my notes on the 2010s both in Issue 196 and below.) There is still no U.S. importer for this estate, though plans are in the offing.

The team here, expressing their satisfaction with last year’s rendition, says they did not change any significant elements of fermentation for the Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent 2011 Moulin-a-Vent Croix des Verillats, and in its elevage only the much more substantial reliance on 350-liter rather than 228-liter barrels. Tasted just ahead of its anticipated end-of-2012 bottling, this evinces cherry and black raspberry with distilled overtones; satisfyingly saline, roasted red meat and chalky undertones; brown spices and vanilla from barrel; and a fine spread of tannin that might well reflect the change made in cooperage. As it takes on air, alluring perfume of wisteria and violets rises from the glass, persisting inner-mouth. The 10,000 bottles of this long-finishing beauty should be well worth seeking out and savoring at least through 2018 (though, to be sure, it is the Chateau’s intention that these prove significantly longer-term vins de garde, and perhaps their expectations will be borne out, though I’m unprepared to predict that). ||Jean-Jacques Parinet’s team (see my extended introduction in Issue 196 for more on them) continues their ambitious revival of this venerable estate as well as the consolidation of its former vineyard surface. The Chateau now farms a total of 92 acres following acquisition of the formerly (and briefly) Girardin-owned Tour du Bief property, the wines from which will be issued under a separate label that I was not yet able to see, so for now I am reporting on them as part of and under the name of Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent. (For more about the effects of this new ownership, see my notes under “Tour du Bief” in this issue on the wine that Girardin continues to make from a portion of his former holdings.) Around half of the Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent vineyards are now farmed under an organic regimen, which will expand to soon encompass its entirety; and about half the fruit is sold off in bulk so as to retain only the best for estate production, a ratio that may or may not change much depending on how the vines and soils respond to their relatively new owner and the market responds to his wines. I have already expressed in Issue 196 my reservations about the way the new-ish 350- and (for Champ de Cour 50% new) 228-liter barrels have influenced some of these wines. I worry lest the frequent flattery directed toward them as “Burgundy-like” will over-influence the domaine’s approach in the cellar and handicap its ability to reveal the unique distinction of Gamay on great granite soils. I certainly have no reservations, though, about the practice of relatively late-bottling and of late-release for wines intended to be cellared, and the 2011s are only now – in spring, 2013 – poised to enter the market. By any standards, the Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent wines are already impressive. (For notes on the sites they single-out for bottling, consult my notes on the 2010s both in Issue 196 and below.)||There is still no U.S. importer for this estate, though plans are in the offing. Wine Advocate.June, 2013