Château du Moulin-à-Vent, Moulin-à-Vent (Beaujolais, Burgundy, France) 2012

Moulin-à-Vent, with its iconic windmill perched at the top of the hill, is the most revered of the ten crus of Beaujolais.  The cru are small areas in the north of Beaujolais with granitic soil which produce wines that couldn’t be further from the tutti-frutti character of Beaujolais Nouveau, which, sadly, remains the image of the region to far too many consumers.  The Château du Moulin-à-Vent, one of the area’s top producers, sits virtually adjacent to the windmill.  Its wines are as iconic as the windmill.  This one, a blend from a variety of vineyards scattered around the hillside, is a good place to start.  You can practically feel the granite through the wine’s firmness.  Despite its firmness, this is not an aggressive or tannic wine, but rather a well-balanced young wine.  Not at all grapey, it’s a mineraly wine that reveals its sturdy stuff slowly.  Drink it now with hearty winter fare or put it into the cellar to see for yourself how “Beaujolais” can develop.