Château du Moulin-à-Vent : Les Vérillats 2024

Characteristics and Tasting Tips for Les Vérillats 2024 from Château du Moulin-à-Vent

Tasting

Colour

The colour is deep and intense, a rich, almost dark ruby hue that reflects the concentration characteristic of grapes grown on this granitic terroir.

Nose

The nose unveils a complex aromatic profile, blending ripe red and black fruits (cherry, plum, blackberry) with floral notes of violet, accompanied by touches of peppery spice and delicate herbaceous nuances.

Palate

On the palate, the wine is both powerful and fresh, carried by firm yet refined tannins and a beautiful mineral tension inherited from the granitic soils. The long, saline finish prolongs this sense of granitic freshness.

Food and Wine Pairing

Les Vérillats pairs ideally with meat dishes in sauce, such as coq au vin, as well as with mature, characterful cheeses. More broadly, this wine is a delightful companion to roasted or slow-cooked meats and poultry in sauce.

Serving and Cellaring

Les Vérillats 2024 is best enjoyed between 16 and 18°C, after a brief decanting to soften its tannins and allow its aromatic bouquet to fully reveal itself. Thanks to its structure and mineral freshness, this wine has excellent ageing potential in the cellar.

A Distinguished Moulin-à-Vent Shaped by the Granitic Terroir of Les Vérillats

The Estate

Founded in 1732 in Romanèche-Thorins, in the heart of the Moulin-à-Vent appellation, Château du Moulin-à-Vent is a historic Beaujolais estate acquired in 2009 by the Parinet family. A family-owned property since that date, it is run by Édouard Parinet, together with oenologist Brice Laffond. The estate extends over 30 hectares, divided into 23 distinct terroirs, including six major lieux-dits vinified separately, reflecting a deep commitment to the typicity of the appellation's granitic soils. The vineyard is undergoing conversion to organic farming, incorporating biodynamic practices, and organic certification is announced from the 2024 vintage onwards.

The Vineyard

The Les Vérillats cuvée comes from an emblematic lieu-dit of the Moulin-à-Vent, appellation, located on a terroir exposed to the wind, with shallow soils of granitic origin. The vines here are old and deeply rooted, which naturally limits their vigour and promotes the concentration of the grapes. Since the 2024 vintage, the entire château vineyard has benefited from organic certification, strengthening the vitality of the soils and the natural resilience of the vines.

The Vintage

The 2024 vintage proved challenging for the entire Beaujolais vineyard, marked by contrasting weather conditions and significant disease pressure. In this context, the château's plots, farmed organically, benefited from particularly living soils and vines in good health, better equipped to resist disease.

Vinification and Ageing

As with the estate's other single-plot cuvées, Les Vérillats 2024 is made from hand-harvested grapes, carefully sorted before precise work on the berries and stems, in order to preserve the freshness of the fruit while benefiting from the structure provided by whole-cluster fermentation. Maceration is carefully managed to extract colour and tannins without altering aromatic finesse. Ageing combines tanks and oak, with measured use of oak to preserve the purity of the fruit and the minerality characteristic of this granitic terroir.

Grape Variety

Les Vérillats 2024 is made from Gamay Noir, the king of grape varieties on the granitic soils of the Moulin-à-Vent appellation.