Yet more glorious sunshine greeted us and a half hour drive on the bus had us in Beaujolais. Our first visit was to Château Moulin-a-Vent, where Popka, a British student of agronomy interning at the chateau, was our extremely knowledgeable guide. The château is of course the namesake of its famous appellation, and its current owners have restored both buildings and vineyards with great care, respecting is long history – its cellars have been dated back to the 16th Century, although the oldest paperwork they have found relating to wine production is from 1732. In the 19th Century, at a time when folklore held that if a woman worked in the winery the wine would go bad, Philiberte Pommier owned the then Château de Thorins, and ran the estate. In 1862 she died at the age of 99 years, just as her wines received a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in London. The wines that won were 8 years old, proving even then that the best Beaujolais Cru wines can age and evolve.
We stood on the terrace looking out across the vineyards towards Fleurie, and Popka explained that the estate’s vineyards include 23 lieu-dit (‘named sites) – there are a total of 69 in the whole of the appellation. Variations in soil (shallower poor soils over pink granite at the top of the slopes, deeper soils with more limestone and clay lower down) and aspect allow ‘palate’ of wines from which to blend. They plant densely to reduce the prolific growth of the Gamay grape, and farm organically, aided by the wind that dries off humidity and encourages the vines to grow deep roots for anchorage. The average age of the vines is 50 years, but some are 100 years old!
Grapes from these lieu-dit are vinified separately, and around a third are matured, most for up to a year, in oak, as we saw in the cool cellars under the Chateau. As we had learnt in Mâcon the day before, the 2021 vintage had been very difficult, with frost, hail and rain, and yields were a quarter of their normal levels. This had given the estate an opportunity to mature some wines from the 2020 vintage for longer in oak, and they were monitoring the effects. 
We ascended from the cellar and crossed the lawn at the back of the château to visit the Clos de Londres, a walled vineyard less than 0.5h area, protected by the walls and woods surrounding it. The famous windmill was virtually next door. The view was glorious, though slightly hazy so we could not see Mont Blanc to the east. This is the best lieu-dit in the estate, farmed biodynamically with very low yields. Only in the very best years is a specific wine made from Clos de Londres, but it contributes to the best blends in the estate.
Our tasting showed the quality both of a well run estate and winery, and the power and complexity of wines of the appellation. We started with a basic AOC Moulin-a-Vent, which had lovely dark cherry and mulberry fruit and fine tannins – a great ‘showcase’ blend from across four sites. Followed by wines from specific lieu-dit, Les Verillats, Champ de Cour, La Rochelle, all from recent vintages and each showing great character, and all clearly worth laying down to evolve even further complexity. We finished with the Clos de Londres 2015, drinking bottle number 851 out of 1,600 made! 2015 is considered (so far) the vintage of the century, and the wine had spent 15 months in oak, but still had beautiful florality, fresh fruit and very appealing farmyardy and vegetal notes – a stunning wine to finish on.
We took a very short coach ride to the village of Fleurie for lunch at the Auberge du Cep, with Tim instructing us to remember we had a visit in the afternoon and avoid over indulgence. This was difficult as the food was fabulous, but we managed it!
A short drive took us to Château de Poncié, which has over a thousand years of history – the owner of Villa Ponciago, as it was known in the 10th Century, donated his vineyard to the Abbey of Cluny (in the hope of eternal salvation), and wine has been made since. We learnt this from our host Robin Allouin, who described the history and the current status of the estate. They have 32ha of vines interspersed among 22ha of woods and other plantings to provide biodiversity. They farm organically, with grasses and wheat planted between the rows of vines to aid soil health, and sheep graze after harvest. They have 10 different plots of contrasting terroir (and also some vines in Cotes de Brouilly to the south).
We took a stroll up the hill to the neighbouring vineyard, where Robin explained that while the traditional approach to viticulture is dense planting of bush vines (Gamay grows well in this way), they are experimenting with rows of cordon trained vines, that can be accessed by tractor, and with new varieties that are better able to deal with water stress and heat.
Every year they have to apply to the Fleurie authorities for a derogation allowing them to harvest some of their vines mechanically rather than by hand (which is a requirement of the AOC). Back in the cellar we learnt more about the importance of this – mainstream Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages wines are generally made by a partial carbonic maceration – fermentation starts within the intact grapes rather than due to the action of yeasts (which take over later), creating brighter fruitier flavours and reducing tannins. This requires whole bunches of grapes to be put into the fermentation vessels. Top quality wines, worthy of ageing (and higher prices) that are designated by the Cru (eg Fleurie) are made in the ‘Burgundian’ way: naturally occurring yeasts acting on the sugars in the grape must drive the fermentation, so the grape skins must be broken and the fermenting must is pumped over a couple of times a day to ensure a healthy fermentation.
In the winery beside the concrete vats in which the reds are made, and the stainless steel used for both red and whites, we tasted their wines.
Their Beaujolais Villages Blanc (100% Chardonnay as required by the AOC), had lovely fresh fruit and great acidity. The 2019 was richer and had more pronounced oaky notes, whereas the 2018, a cooler year, was rather more complex and felt as though it might evolve further.
The Beaujolais Villages red, made from 45 year old vines, with partial carbonic maceration had lovely cherry and redcurrant fruit and pleasant tannins – a wine to be drunk young, and chilled!
The Fleurie 946 (named for the year of the winery’s establishment), is a blend of different plots, and was fresh and fruity with more complexity. Finally we contrasted their two lieu-dit wines. Les Hauts de Py, 55 year old vines on a high south facing slope, had lovely structure and flavours of cherries, flowers, herbs and spices. Les Moriers, a vineyard that had prior to 1938 been considered part of Moulin a Vent, with 80 year old vines on a north facing slope was a step up again, with more concentration and complexity – and the contrast between the 2018 and the 2016 vintages showed how beautifully Fleurie can age.
A great day came to an end, with many Beaujolais myths exploded and truths explored. It is an exquisitely pretty region, well worth further exploration – both in situ, and in wine shops.