“La Rochelle” Moulin-à-Vent 2021 – Château du Moulin-à-Vent

To produce the “La Rochelle” Moulin-à-Vent Château du Moulin-à-Vent, approximately 50% of the grapes were destemmed and the rest were left as whole clusters. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks with one pump-over per day. A third of the wine was then aged in used French oak barrels for 15 months, while 70% of the wine was aged in stainless steel tanks. The wine was then blended before bottling.

The La Rochelle vineyard is 4.2 hectares and is situated at the top of a hillside. The soils are more shallow than those of the Champ de Cours vineyard with a mixture of granite, sand, clay and elements of manganese and iron oxides. The vineyard is situated at 280 metres above sea level and benefits from cooling winds. The vines are 80 years old, and coupled with south facing exposure, this means that the resulting berries are small with beautiful concentration and finesse.

Château du Moulin-à-Vent in 1732 was known as Château des Thorins. The property was purchased in 2009 by Jean-Jacques Parinet who invested heavily to revive the estate, with the aim of making the best Moulin-à-Vent. Jean-Jacques began by replanting 70,000 vines, moving to sustainable viticulture and investing in new French oak barrels. Château du Moulin-à-Vent has 37 hectares which include the top single vineyards ‘Champ du Cour’ and ‘La Rochelle‘. The vines are densely planted at 9,000 vines per hectare and yields are low, between 20 –35 hectolitres per hectare, versus the official minimum requirements of 6,000 vines per hectare and yields of 56 hectolitres per hectare for wines of the Moulin-à-Vent appellation.