Moulin-à-Vent, La Rochelle, Ch. du Moulin-à-Vent - 2020

At a time when the prices of the great media wines are soaring, it is more relevant than ever to take an interest in the great vineyards of yesterday, fallen into a form of oblivion but on the right path to becoming once again the great terroirs of always. The Beaujolais is one of them. And whoever has never looked at the wine lists of the beginning of the 20th century cannot measure that in the past, Moulin-à-Vent had a great reputation and prices similar to Chambertin, Pommard or Vosne. The history of the Château du Moulin-à-Vent is in this respect the reflection of the viticulture in Beaujolais for three centuries. Once a flagship property of the region, it has known everything: the glory of the 19th century, when the best Beaujolais wines, and more particularly Moulin-à-Vent, were enthroned on the great tables of Europe; the takeover at the beginning of the last century by a large French business family, which for a long time believed in and invested in the vine and wine. Then, from the 1980s onwards, the slow decline of regional viticulture. And, as has happened in many emerging wine regions, or those rising from the ashes, a new owner arrived who was not a member of the elite, but who was driven by passion. With the skills he acquired in his first professional life, Jean-Jacques Parinet is gradually putting the boat back afloat, through investment and commitment, and...