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2023 Moulin-à-Vent “Vieilles Vignes”

Domaine Diochon
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As soon as the weather in New York warmed up a few weeks ago, I stepped out in my backyard for the first time in months. Signs of neglect were everywhere: the ground was covered in dead leaves, and my terracotta pots, once lush with herbs, were tipped and barren. I reached for a rake to start wading through the sea of brown, when a few bright green shoots caught my eye. Thriving below the stale surface of my yard, to my delight, was a determined little family of daffodil sprouts! 
     Spring comes at you fast, and now there are yellow blossoms everywhere. All I can think about lately is gardening and grilling, and leaving my back door ajar to usher in the fresh air. I want to gather with friends and sip chilled Beaujolais on the sun-soaked patio—with burgers, flank steak, and herby grain salads! Diochon’s Moulin-à-Vent, which tends to be deep and dark-fruited, is my Beaujolais of choice for when the weather is still slightly cool. The 2023 is hearty enough for bold flavors, but still silky and low in tannin. It’s an earthy, transitional Gamay to awaken the season.  

Jane Augustine

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Technical Information
Wine Type: red
Vintage: 2023
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: Gamay
Appellation: Moulin-à-Vent
Country: France
Region: Beaujolais
Producer: Domaine Diochon
Winemaker: Thomas Patenôtre
Vineyard: 50 - 85 years, 5.05 ha
Soil: Pink granite, sandstone, with a manganese-rich subsoil
Farming: Lutte Raisonnée
Alcohol: 14%

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About The Region

Beaujolais

map of Beaujolais

After years of the region’s reputation being co-opted by mass-produced Beaujolais Nouveau and the prevalence of industrial farming, the fortunes of vignerons from the Beaujolais have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. Much of this change is due to Jules Chauvet, a prominent Beaujolais producer who Kermit worked with in the 1980s and arguably the father of the natural wine movement, who advocated not using herbicides or pesticides in vineyards, not chaptalizing, fermenting with ambient yeasts, and vinifying without SO2. Chief among Chauvet’s followers was Marcel Lapierre and his three friends, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, and Jean-Paul Thévenet—a group of Morgon producers who Kermit dubbed “the Gang of Four.” The espousal of Chauvet’s methods led to a dramatic change in quality of wines from Beaujolais and with that an increased interest and appreciation for the AOC crus, Villages, and regular Beaujolais bottlings.

The crus of Beaujolais are interpreted through the Gamay grape and each illuminate the variety of great terroirs available in the region. Distinguishing itself from the clay and limestone of Burgundy, Beaujolais soils are predominantly decomposed granite, with pockets of blue volcanic rock. The primary vinification method is carbonic maceration, where grapes are not crushed, but instead whole clusters are placed in a tank, thus allowing fermentation to take place inside each grape berry.

Much like the easy-going and friendly nature of many Beaujolais vignerons, the wines too have a lively and easy-drinking spirit. They are versatile at table but make particularly good matches with the local pork sausages and charcuterie. Though often considered a wine that must be drunk young, many of the top crus offer great aging potential.

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Inspiring Thirst

I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.

Inspiring Thirst, page 171

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