August Wine Pick: Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2015

This WINE PICK of the month was written for the Luke's of Cape Cod website.

I love Beaujolais-Villages. That’s right. I said it. Sure, those from the Cru villages in Beaujolais get all the glory and praise while those that are designated as Beaujolais-Villages don’t get taken too seriously. But, see, that’s EXACTLY why I love them. You shouldn’t get all serious and wine-snobby about Beaujolais-Villages because of its fun and spirited character.

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Wine Review: Château du Moulin-à-Vent 2011 Champ de Cour Moulin-à-Vent

This is the second of two reviews for wines by Château du Moulin-à-Vent. To learn more about the village of Moulin-à-Vent, the region of Beaujolais, and the Gamay grape then please read the review for Château du Moulin-à-Vent 2011 Moulin-à-Vent. 

So because I covered all of that in the first review, let's talk a bit about the winery in this one.

The earliest proof of Château du Moulin-à-Vent's existence is from 1732 but it's probably older than that. However, before 1936 it was called Château des Thorins. 1936 was the year that Moulin-à-Vent became one of the first Cru Beaujolais villages to be established, and it was named after the three-hundred year old Moulin-à-Vent style windmill that stands on top of the hill of Les Thorins. So, the Château decided to change from Château des Thorins to Château du Moulin-à-Vent. The X's on the label have got to be an homage to its beloved windmill, right?

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Wine Review: Château du Moulin-à-Vent 2011 Moulin-à-Vent

Let's start off with some clarifications. This wine is from the village of Moulin-à-Vent, which is a cru of Beaujolais, France. This is not anything like the Beaujolais Nouveau that comes out every third week of November. Beaujolais Nouveau is garbage. Yes, it's an exciting traditional thing to celebrate the vintage but the wine is crap.

Beaujolais-Villages is the name of the Beaujolais where the wine starts to get good. One of my favorite simple and affordable wines is Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages. Give that sucker a chill and you've got the perfect red wine for spring. It's like drinking Jell-O. When you get into specific villages that qualify as what they call "Cru Beaujolais", well, that's when the wine gets great. Moulin-à-Vent is one of those and, unlike the others, it likes to oak age its wines.

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