Expensive wine 156: Chateau des Jacques Moulin-a-Vent 2018

This is Cru Beaujolais to please not only wine geeks, but Mom

Wine geeks love what’s called Cru Beaujoalis – more expensive and better quality red wine from the Beaujolais region of France, which otherwise produces oceans of ordinary $10 wine. In fact, there’s an old joke about young sommeliers and their favorite wine, and the punchline is “Cru Beaujolais.”

So what’s the Chateau des Jacques doing here? Hey, even wine geeks are allowed to be right every once in a while.

The Chateau des Jacques Moulin-a-Vent 2018 ($27, purchased, 13.5%) is a terrific example of why Cru Beaujolais is held in such high regard. It’s made with gamay, a simpler grape, but this wine is layered, deep, and interesting. It has many notes where supermarket Beaujolais has just one. Look for some floral aromas, as well as berry fruit (just barely ripe), maybe some black pepper, and a speck of acidity to balance it all. The tannins are pushed all the way to the back, with a long and almost gravelly finish.

And, in one of those ironies that I especially appreciate, the brand is owned by French Big Wine’s Louis Jadot. No, I don’t know what the wine geeks make of that.

Highly recommended. This is a red wine that is light enough for a Mother’s Day brunch (sausage and onion frittata, perhaps), but would also pair with smoked or roast chicken for a Mother’s Day afternoon picnic or barbecue.

Imported by Kobrand