Appellation
Moulin-à-Vent
Identity card
VillageAOPRed
Beaujolais · Recognised on 11 September 1936
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Chénas (Rhône) and Romanèche-Thorins (Saône-et-Loire).
- At most 56 hl/ha, at least 10.5% natural alcohol; at least 6,000 vines/ha.
- Sorting is compulsory; released from 1 February after the harvest.
Grape varieties
Red wine onlyGamay
Allowed as a small share of the red wine: Aligoté, Chardonnay, Melon de Bourgogne (15% at most of the vines in each plot)
Only interplanted among the vines, and fermented with the Gamay
Production rules
56
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
6,000
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Minimum ageing: At least until 15 January of the year after the harvest
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 67 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 12.5 % ABV across 63 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum planting density
- The fewest vines allowed per hectare. For the same yield, more vines means fewer grapes on each. For reference: 4,000 vines/ha to 9,000 vines/ha across 75 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: Montagne de Rémont and terraces, 190 to 420 m up
- Soils: 80% of soils on pink granite sand ("gore")
- Soils: Seams of manganese through the granite
Wine style
- Truffle
- ruby to garnet
- ripe red fruit, flowers
- generous, firmly built
- gains with age
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
20 February 2024
Arrêté du 20 février 2024 homologuant le cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Moulin-à-Vent » (JORF n°0047 du 25 février 2024, texte n°18 ; NOR AGRT2322447A). Appellation initialement reconnue par le décret du 11 septembre 1936.
Labelling terms
- A registered lieu-dit may follow the appellation name
- "Cru du Beaujolais", "Vin du Beaujolais" or "Grand Vin du Beaujolais"
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Trade bodySite officiel des vins du Beaujolais (Inter Beaujolais)— Inter Beaujolais — interprofession des vins du Beaujolais
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Moulin-à-Vent »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / Ministère de l'agriculture
- Reference bookThe Oxford Companion to Wine— Oxford University Press
A Beaujolais cru named not after a commune but after a sixteenth- century windmill still standing on the hill of Romanèche-Thorins, straddling the communes of Chénas (Rhône) and Romanèche-Thorins (Saône-et-Loire). Its pink granite, rich in manganese according to Inter Beaujolais, is traditionally credited with a strong ageing capacity.
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Moulin-à-Vent
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