Ever since the Parinet family purchased this iconic property in 2009, they have been making marvelous wine. They focus solely on wine from Moulin-à-Vent, one of the top crus of Beaujolais. Moulin-à-Vent is home to well-structured rich wines that often need years of bottle age — these wines are as far away from insipidly fruity Beaujolais-Nouveau as you can get. Their Couvent des Thorins is the most accessible and approachable of their wines. Still, it is not the grapey, easy-to-gulp type of Beaujolais. Rather, it has a firmness that implies a serious wine — which it is. You can almost taste the granitic soil. It would be an excellent choice for coq au vin this fall.
Château du Moulin-à-Vent, Moulin-à-Vent (Beaujolais, Burgundy) 2012
By Michael Apstein