Château des Jacques, Moulin-a-Vent AOC (Beaujolais, Burgundy, France) 2019

 This is a single vineyard wine from the Clos de Rochegres where the vines grow at an altitude of 1,148 feet providing crisp acidity and freshness.  The grapes were allowed to macerate for three to four weeks, soaking up color and flavors from the skins.  The wine spent ten months in a combination of new and used barrels.  The result is a beautifully structured wine with intense flavors of black cherry, blackberry flavors, with spicy, vanilla notes, lifted by crisp acidity and finishing with ripe tannins.  It is drinking well now, but will reveal more charm over time.  The Beaujolais region in Burgundy, France, was recently declared a UNESCO Global Geopark, defined as a “single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development.”  That declaration was based upon a major soil study instigated by the Inter Beaujolais organization and the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture that mapped a geological snapshot of the 12 appellations.  The study showed more soil varieties than expected, and that information is helpful to those involved in growing the grape and making the wines of Beaujolais.