Moulin-à-Vent (King of Beaujolais)

INAO's cahier des charges cites Suzanne Blanchet's "Les vins de Bourgogne" for vine growing in the area since the 1st century, and records that by the 3rd century wines in amphorae went down the nearby Saône to Lyon. National archives of 1722, quoted by INAO, name Romanèche as one of the four Mâconnais localities shipping the most pièces of wine to Paris. A judgment of the Mâcon tribunal dated 17 April 1924 officially set the limits within which wines named "Thorins ou Moulin-à-Vent" could be produced. The following year the "Union des viticulteurs" was created and led the case for the AOC, which ended in the decree of 11 September 1936, when the name "Thorins" was dropped (INAO). Inter Beaujolais says the wines were sold as "vins des Thorins" until 1924 and that the 1924 appellation was created at the growers' initiative to guard against recurrent fraud. Decanter reports that in 1872 Romanèche was linked with the village of Thorins, resulting in the name Romanèche-Thorins.

• 17 April 1924: a Mâcon tribunal judgment sets the limits for "Thorins ou Moulin-à-Vent" (INAO); Decanter calls the 1924 delimitation one of the very first in France
• 11 September 1936: AOC recognised by decree (INAO); Inter Beaujolais says it was among the first French AOCs
• INAO describes Moulin-à-Vent as the oldest of the 10 recognised Beaujolais crus
• Since 1934 the cooperative founded by about forty producers has been housed in an outbuilding of the château des Michauds at Chénas; it vinifies about 20% of volumes (INAO, 2022 text)
• In 1996 the producers of Moulin-à-Vent and Chénas created the Confrérie des Maîtres Vignerons de Chénas et Moulin-à-Vent (INAO)

INAO places the zone on the eastern flank of the Monts du Beaujolais, mainly on the Montagne de Rémont (510 metres) and on terraces facing the Saône plain, 15 kilometres south-west of Mâcon and 25 kilometres north of Villefranche-sur-Saône, at the border of the Rhône and Saône-et-Loire departments. Plots run from sometimes steep slopes above the village of Chénas in the west to gentler slopes and terraces reaching Romanèche-Thorins in the east, at altitudes from 190 to 420 metres. According to INAO, 80% of soils developed on friable pink sandy arènes from weathered granite, called "grès" or "gore" locally, while soils in the south and on the eastern edge formed on colluvium; soils are generally well drained and impregnated with iron and manganese oxides dispersed from veins crossing the granite. INAO adds that France's largest manganese deposit was discovered around 1750 at Romanèche-Thorins and worked from the 18th to the 19th century. It describes the climate as a degraded oceanic climate with continental and southern influences, with a mean annual temperature close to 11°C, and says the Monts du Beaujolais shelter the vineyard from westerly winds.

• Altitude 190 to 420 metres (INAO); Inter Beaujolais lists 255 metres and Decanter an average altitude of 260 metres (2024)
• Inter Beaujolais soil breakdown: granites 53%, piémonts 37%, with some limestone, marl and sandstone
• Plots lie on gentle slopes facing east and southeast, protected from westerly winds by the Monts du Beaujolais (INAO)
• Inter Beaujolais: 620 hectares harvested, spread across 71 lieux-dits
• Inter Beaujolais links the wines' intensity to poor granitic soils and strong, regular winds that stress the vine and give small berries

INAO's cahier des charges names gamay N as the principal grape and allows aligoté, chardonnay and melon only as vines interplanted in the vineyard, together at most 15% of each parcel; wines from such parcels are vinified by blending the grapes. INAO says producers have adopted a vinification in which traditional fermentation and semi-carbonic maceration coexist. INAO describes the wines as deep ruby to garnet in colour, often with floral and ripe red fruit notes that move toward spice, truffle and even venison with age, and a generous, firmly structured palate. Inter Beaujolais says young wines are floral and fruity with violet and cherry aromas, and after a few years develop iris, wilted rose, spice and ripe fruit with undergrowth and truffle notes; it uses the French term "pinoter" for the way the wines slowly develop a bouquet similar to Pinot Noir. Decanter's Andy Howard MW notes the appellation's reputation as the most structured of the Beaujolais crus, while writing that today's wines are nearly always approachable when young.

• Principal grape gamay N; accessory aligoté, chardonnay and melon, interplanted only, at most 15% per parcel (INAO, 2022 text)
• Traditional fermentation and semi-carbonic maceration coexist in the appellation (INAO)
• Young wines: violet and cherry; after a few years: iris, wilted rose, spice, undergrowth and truffle (Inter Beaujolais)
• "Pinoter": Inter Beaujolais's term for the wines slowly developing a Pinot Noir-like bouquet with age

Decanter's 2024 centenary profile names Château du Moulin-à-Vent, run by Edouard Parinet, and Château des Jacques, part of the Louis Jadot group, among the producers leading the push for premier cru status. Decanter reports that Château des Jacques's recent history began in 1924, when Amédée Rousseau bought the mansion in Romanèche-Thorins with 2 hectares of Moulin-à-Vent; within four years he had expanded the estate to 60 hectares and introduced the Burgundian technique of destemming, then not used on a large scale in Beaujolais. Decanter adds that Maison Louis Jadot bought the estate in 1996, and it now comprises 69 hectares across three crus and five appellations, 35 of them in Moulin-à-Vent. Domaine Labruyère dates back to 1850, when Jean-Marc Labruyère settled in the hamlet of Les Thorins, and holds the Clos du Moulin-à-Vent as a monopole; Decanter names Nadine Gublin as its winemaker. Château du Moulin-à-Vent, located by the windmill, was known as Château des Thorins until it was renamed in 1936, and was bought by the Parinet family from the Damoy family in 2009 (Decanter).

• Château des Jacques (Maison Louis Jadot since 1996): 69 hectares across three crus and five appellations, 35 in Moulin-à-Vent, including Le Carquelin, La Roche, Champ de Cour and Thorins (Decanter, 2024)
• Domaine Labruyère (dates to 1850): Clos du Moulin-à-Vent monopole; winemaker Nadine Gublin (Decanter, 2024)
• Château du Moulin-à-Vent: beside the windmill; known as Château des Thorins until 1936; bought from the Damoy family in 2009 (Decanter, 2024)
• Decanter's list of leading producers also includes Domaine du Granit, Richard Rottiers and Maison Jean Loron

INAO's cahier des charges, in the text submitted to national opposition after the national committee's opinion of 30 November 2022, reserves Moulin-à-Vent for still red wines whose grapes are harvested, made and aged in Chénas and Romanèche-Thorins. INAO's product page states that the current cahier was homologated by arrêté of 20 February 2024. Rules in the 2022 text include a minimum planting density of 6,000 vines per hectare, short pruning (gobelet, fan or cordon de Royat) with at most 10 buds per vine, grapes of at least 180 g/L sugar and a minimum natural alcohol of 10.5%, a yield of 56 hl/ha with a rendement butoir of 61 hl/ha, and total alcohol of no more than 13% after enrichment. Irrigation and wood chips are banned, wines are aged until at least 15 January after the harvest, and they may be released to consumers from 1 February after the harvest. Labels may add the name of a registered lieu-dit after the appellation name, and may carry the larger unit "Cru du Beaujolais". Decanter reported in 2024 that an application had been submitted to raise 14 lieux-dits to premier cru status and that INAO approval could take up to 10 years.

• AOC first recognised by the decree of 11 September 1936; still red wines only (INAO)
• Yield 56 hl/ha, rendement butoir 61 hl/ha; minimum natural alcohol 10.5%; total alcohol at most 13% after enrichment (INAO, 2022 text)
• Minimum density 6,000 vines per hectare; short pruning with at most 10 buds per vine; irrigation banned (INAO, 2022 text)
• Labels may name a registered lieu-dit immediately after the appellation name (INAO, 2022 text)
• Premier cru application for 14 lieux-dits submitted in the 1924-2024 centenary year (Decanter)

The windmill stands on the hill of Romanèche-Thorins and ground grain until the middle of the 19th century, according to INAO, which says it is classified as a historic monument and inspired the painter Maurice Utrillo. Inter Beaujolais places it at 278 metres, and Decanter describes it as 5.5 metres tall. INAO locates the zone 60 kilometres north of Lyon, between Villefranche-sur-Saône and Mâcon. Inter Beaujolais describes the Beaujolais Wine Route as a 140-km circuit and lists the ten crus from north to south as Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly.

• Windmill: built in 1550 (INAO; Decanter also dates it to 1550), at 278 metres (Inter Beaujolais), classified as a historic monument (INAO)
• Location: 60 km north of Lyon, between Villefranche-sur-Saône and Mâcon (INAO)
• On Inter Beaujolais's north-to-south list of the crus, Moulin-à-Vent comes fourth, after Chénas and before Fleurie

Primary sources (INAO and Inter Beaujolais): https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/PNO-CDCMoulin-%C3%A0-Vent-CN221130.pdf, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/moulin-vent-ou-moulin-vent-cru-du-beaujolais-18177, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/moulin-a-vent/, https://www.beaujolais.com/appellation/moulin-a-vent/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/legal-notice/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/visit/the-beaujolais-wine-route/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine/regional-profile-moulin-a-vent-celebrates-its-centenary-530852/. Last verified 2026-09-24