Cherry, violet, hay, a tiny touch of licorice too. This is quite exciting and profound. The palate is showing a massive acid backbone, some width and grip, some cherry notes, but the fruit is a little discreet. There are tannins popping up in the rear, disturbing the mouthfeel, powering up a tangy finish with cherry and a nice bitter note along with a tiny salty touch, almost sea breezesque if that makes sense. This is a serious beaujo, very different from fruit bombs and other crowd-pleasing usual expressions that people tend to rave about. This is gastronomy wine and playing in the same league as some other wines from a different varietal that grow a bit farther to the north. — 10 months ago
Another Brouilly. Really easy to drink — 2 years ago
Shimmering ruby. Expressive black raspberry, cherry cola and violet scents pick up mineral and spice nuances with air. Nicely concentrated yet lively on the palate, offering juicy bitter cherry, dark berry and exotic spice flavors that turn sweeter on the back half. Discreet tannins shape the floral-tinged finish, which hangs on with very good persistence. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, August 2021)
— 3 years ago
With joji 🍣 — 3 months ago
Lovely, classy Beaujolais village level gamay, 2020 vintage enjoying early in 2024.
Goes well with cheese and crackers and staying indoors on cold winter nights. — 10 months ago
It’s extremely gamay season and this is peak! — 2 years ago
Yes, these guys do Beaujolais in a Bordeaux bottle.
Great nose features ripe cherry and berries, along with a rich, humus-like earthy note and scents of old barrels. Fruity but fairly structured in the mouth. Significant tannin frames the sultry, oozy fruit. Initially, it’s a little austere in the finish (a la the region whose bottle shape is used), but more fruit comes through as it gets air. Unique and very good. — 3 years ago
Brought to Au Courant from our cellar to celebrate our daughter’s 15th birthday. As far as I can tell, 2009 was the first commercially available vintage of Thibault’s foray into Moulin-a-Vent so this was fun to try since I’ve been a big fan of his work there.
Poured into a decanter about an hour prior to service. The 2009 VV pours a deep ruby/purple with a near opaque core; medium viscosity and some light staining of the tears. There were some signs of sediment but most had been decanted off. On the nose, the wine is…well…pretty wild with notes of horse blanket and there’s just a touch of varnish in there too. For me, it’s teetering on the edge of, “is this charming or is this overbearing”? However, since there was more there than just a cow pasture and I don’t get any gerbil cage, I’ll leave this in the “charming” camp but I digress…back to the notes from the nose. The wine is developing, with dark crunchy berries, dark cherries, sandalwood...some pepper, some leather and light notes of potting soil. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannins and medium+ acid. The first glass showed a touch of effervescence like there could have been a slight refermentation in the bottle. Confirming the notes from the nose though it seems cleaner on the palate with some granite minerals on the finish. Interesting, it’s almost like this was semi-carbonic but as far as I know, Thibault has been making these wines using the same methods as he does his GC wines in Nuits-Saint-Georges so I don’t know. And this is why I like this wine. It’s making me think...and it’s been enjoyable throughout the meal, working particularly well with our strip steak. Yum! A really fun wine for those that enjoy something a little more rustic. That being said, I know it wouldn’t have pleased everyone. There is plenty of gas left in the tank and while this drinks very well now, I would expect that this will continue to drink well through 2029 with ease. — 10 months ago
John Hagood
L’s favorite rosé, from Cork $23. Terrific full flavor. Thick, for a Gamay. — 3 months ago