2009 Domaine Diochon Moulin-a-Vent

Why don’t people drink more Beaujolais? Every time I open a bottle, I ask myself that very question. For roughly $25 you can get a great (not just good, not just tasty, but really damn nice) bottle of wine and tonight’s Moulin-a-Vent (one of the 10 Beaujolais crus) proves my point exactly.

With 5 years of age, the wine is starting to really come into its own. Raspberry and dark cherry come to mind with leather, hints of cocoa, nice minerality and earth. There’s some tannin for structure and the balance is spot on. Terrific with food or alone, there’s a real richness of quality here that goes to show that Beaujolais is not only the home of tutti-fruity, easy wines, but also the more serious, complex wine styles that make Burgundy so popular, but at a fraction of the price of Pinot Noir. I’d happily serve this wine to any of my Pinot-loving friends if I wasn’t so greedily saving it all for myself!