Chateau des Jacques Moulin-a-Vent 2019
$32.00 USD
Description
How To Say It
Vino Joe Says...
Description
This wine is a blend of eight different terroirs of Moulin-A-Vent : Rochegrès, Carquelin, Champ de Cour, Thorins les Vérillats, La Roche, La Rochelle, and Les Caves. The pink granite soils are different from one vineyard to another and show various depths, alterations, and exposures. The final assemblage expresses the complete symphony of the Moulin-à-Vent appellation.
Trivia: Moulin-a-Vent translates to “windmill” in French, and is arguably the most noteworthy of the ten Beaujolais crus, located in the very north of the Beaujolais region.
How To Say It
Pronounced SHAH-toe duh ZHOCK moo-LAHN ah VAHN
Vino Joe Says...
Vino Joe: “People forget — or even dismiss — that the Beaujolais region is technically in the most southern part of Burgundy, and so is blessed with the same climate and soil diversity. Chateau des Jacques makes some of the most sought-after and collectible wines of the region, some of which can gracefully age for 40+ years. This cru Beaujolais is an amazing value and an ideal introduction to a truly magical winery. While made from Gamay, its depth, structure, intensity, and ageability stand up to — and in some cases surpass — its Pinot Noir-dominated cousins from the north. Buy at least 12 bottles and enjoy over the next decade-plus.”
About the wine
REGION: France | Burgundy | Beaujolais | Moulin-à-Vent AOC
GRAPES: 100% Gamay
PH: 3.49
ACIDITY: 3.80 g/L
ABV: 13.8%
AGING:
The wines are aged for 10 months in concrete tank and in oak barrels made from the forests of Allier, Limousin and Nivernais.Ruby red in color with hues of violet. Elegant and intense, with notes of fresh mature red fruit, such as cherry and currant. Harmonious, with great structure and roundness. Beautiful savory finish.
Moulin-à-Vent is perfect with lighter red meat dishes.
Picked and sorted by hand, and often de-stemmed, the grapes macerate slowly over the course of 3-4 weeks. Both pigeage and pumping take place during fermentation depending on the vintage characteristics.
This Moulin-A-Vent needs two or three years to reach its harmony, and can then age easily for several decades. Vintages such as 2009, 2005, 1999, 1985 or even 1976 are delicious today.
The year 2019 was one of paradoxes, one in which the delicacy of texture and sheer deliciousness of the wines do not reveal how challenging this season has been.
The worries started with one of the mildest winters since the start of the 20th Century which triggered a very precautious awakening of the vines at the end of March. For the first time in decades, frosts hit Beaujolais. April conditions were cool and rainy which helped to replenish the water table to a level compensating for the coming dry month of May.
From then, heat and drought conditions established in Beaujolais. Without the necessary water reserves, our granitic soils put the gamay vines to the test, and the rains that fell towards the end of August brought true relief to the vineyards.
With cool temperatures and stormy conditions concerns arouse for the health of the bunches and risks of hails. Salvation arrived towards the end of August and the beginning of September with the return of sunny, warm and dry weather. On the 20th of September, picking began in Carquelin and Champ de Cour.
The worries started with one of the mildest winters since the start of the 20th Century which triggered a very precautious awakening of the vines at the end of March. For the first time in decades, frosts hit Beaujolais. April conditions were cool and rainy which helped to replenish the water table to a level compensating for the coming dry month of May.
From then, heat and drought conditions established in Beaujolais. Without the necessary water reserves, our granitic soils put the gamay vines to the test, and the rains that fell towards the end of August brought true relief to the vineyards.
With cool temperatures and stormy conditions concerns arouse for the health of the bunches and risks of hails. Salvation arrived towards the end of August and the beginning of September with the return of sunny, warm and dry weather. On the 20th of September, picking began in Carquelin and Champ de Cour.
What The Critics Say...
Aromas of raspberries, rose petals, warm spices and orange rind introduce the 2019 Moulin-à-Vent, a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy wine that’s lively and concentrated, with melting tannins and a fragrant finish. It’s typical of the seamless, satiny and perfumed style of the 2019 vintage at the Château des Jacques.
Cyril Chirouze and his team at the Château des Jacques have turned in another terrific performance at the Château des Jacques. This was a protracted harvest that began on September 10 with whites and lower-lying parcels (where yields were reduced by frost) and continued in fits and starts from three weeks, following the maturity of the estate’s different parcels. The result is wines that are in a sense paradoxical. Ethereal and perfumed, with vibrant fruit flavors and melting tannins, they’re more delicate and subtle than the 2018s, exhibiting much of the charm of a cooler vintage, yet they are nevertheless marked by the sunny, dry conditions, which manifest themselves in above-average alcohol levels. If 2018 set a new standard for oak integration at this address, 2019 immediately surpasses it: Site and cépage are front and center—perhaps because even the “parcellaire” bottlings saw 30% tank maturation—and any overt oak influence appears to be a thing of the past. Everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended, and it’s clear that under Chirouze’s direction, the Château des Jacques is, without wishing to indulge in hyperbole, entering a new golden age. William Kelley, Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate
Cyril Chirouze and his team at the Château des Jacques have turned in another terrific performance at the Château des Jacques. This was a protracted harvest that began on September 10 with whites and lower-lying parcels (where yields were reduced by frost) and continued in fits and starts from three weeks, following the maturity of the estate’s different parcels. The result is wines that are in a sense paradoxical. Ethereal and perfumed, with vibrant fruit flavors and melting tannins, they’re more delicate and subtle than the 2018s, exhibiting much of the charm of a cooler vintage, yet they are nevertheless marked by the sunny, dry conditions, which manifest themselves in above-average alcohol levels. If 2018 set a new standard for oak integration at this address, 2019 immediately surpasses it: Site and cépage are front and center—perhaps because even the “parcellaire” bottlings saw 30% tank maturation—and any overt oak influence appears to be a thing of the past. Everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended, and it’s clear that under Chirouze’s direction, the Château des Jacques is, without wishing to indulge in hyperbole, entering a new golden age. William Kelley, Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate
Château des Jacques is,
Historic and Prestigious Estate
The historic Château des Jacques estate, located in the village of Romanèche-Thorins in the Moulin-à-Vent appellation, is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious estate in Beaujolais. It was purchased by Louis Jadot in 1996, at which time Maison Louis Jadot became the first Burgundy house to own a major Beaujolais vineyard.
The Windmill
Moulin-a-Vent, or Windmill in French, is arguably the most noteworthy of the ten Beaujolais crus, located in the very north of the Beaujolais region. The vineyards of Moulin-a-Vent lie on the south- and southeast-facing slopes of the Beaujolais hills, where they are protected from harsh continental weather systems from the northwest. Instead, the region’s high sunlight hours and gentle cooling influences from the Mediterranean Sea in the south help to maximize the ripening period, leading to grapes with a good balance of flavor and acidity. The most distinctive and desirable feature of the terroir here comes from the manganese, a mineral that retards growth and results in a smaller yield of highly concentrated grapes with beautiful red hue are produced. This leads to deeper, more intensely flavored wines than are produced in other parts of Beaujolais.