“Les Moriers” is an exceptional vineyard in the cru of Fleurie; not only is it steep and stony, with a granite core, but a portion of it reaches into Moulin-à-Vent, a cru known for its structural depth and Rhône-like aromatics. Fleurie, by contrast, is thought to be more delicate, pretty and floral, as its name suggests. In Chignard’s “Les Moriers” we have elements of both crus coming together as one, resulting in a harmonious balance of heft and gravitas, laced with violet and a fresh-cut, blossoming bouquet. If there were only one Beaujolais to call “versatile,” this would be it.

If this wine was a stock, it would outperform the market every year—a real blue chip. From her hillside vineyard on the slopes of Mont Brouilly, Nicole Chanrion crafts delicious Beaujolais the traditional way, by hand-harvesting, fermenting with whole clusters, and patiently aging in large oak foudres. In investing, they say that past performance is not an indicator of future success, but it’s hard to argue with a track record that spans six generations.

In a wine landscape in which producers bottle increasingly wider ranges of cuvées, Domaine Diochon has become an outlier, producing one bottling year in and year out, which happens to be the same bottling we have imported for nearly forty years: the old-vine Moulin-à-Vent. In our November 1984 newsletter, Kermit wrote, “There was only one cask of old vines and Diochon was going to blend it in to add substance and character to his other casks. I had to pay a premium to obtain that one cask pure and unblended.”
      Today, the wine is made from vines planted in 1920, 1950, and the 1960s. Not much else has changed with respect to this rouge that hails from Moulin-à-Vent, the Beaujolais cru known for producing arguably the region’s most age-worthy wines. Bernard Diochon, who succeeded his father in 1967, once said, “I like tannic wines without heaviness; with fruit and floral aromas. I don’t like weighty wines with hard tannins.” Although Bernard has been succeeded by Thomas Patenôtre, the wine continues to remain true to that sentiment. It contains some tannin—it wouldn’t be young Moulin-à-Vent if it didn’t—but it is beautifully integrated and the wine is ready to drink now if given a little time to breathe. Soulful and savory, with notes of cherries, iron, and smoke, this is cru Beaujolais built to last.