Vintage Report 2021 - Chateau Moulin a Vent

In the Vineyard - A warm and sunny weather at the beginning of the year led to a medium-timed bud burst around the 5thof April. If winter was mild, the second quarter is unusually cold and rainy. A memorable frost impacted 70% of the vines on the 8th of April. Due to cold months in April and May, flowering was late (9th of June).

The first two weeks of June were particularly warm, and shortened the flowering time down to 7 days, instead of 9 in average. Following this trend, July was cold and very rainy, giving berries with a high acid content. The ripening time started later than the average, around the 4th of August. August was dry and quite cold compared to the average temperature. Hopefully, a heat wave in mid-August and a summer-like weather in September led the berries to a great ripeness.

A few days before harvest, sugar levels are similar to those of the 2014 vintage, but with more acidity. The mildness of the very last weeks have led to a clear improvement of the vineyard's health.

Finally, 2021 is a late vintage, which was difficult in terms of vines management. Despite tiny yields, quality is here!

Technical Data - Harvest dates: 16 September - 25 September, 9 working days (quite short period compared to the average). Working conditions 8 sorters and 80 pickers, harvest by hand only with 30 liters small boxes to protectGamay's fragile skin. Yields 18.5 Hl/ha (against 56Hl/ha authorized by the appellation), lower than the domain's average yields since 2009

Frost - the most impacted terroirs - "Champ de Cour","Les Thorins", "La Delatte" and "Maisons Neuves" Whole cluster - 40% in average (15-20% for the terroirs which have been highly impacted by frost, and 50-60% forthe others). Harvest order by terroir: "La Delatte", "MaisonsNeuves", "La Roche", "Moulin-à-vent", "Champ deCour", "Les Thorins", "Les Vérillats", "La Rochelle","Aux Caves"

In the Cellar - Manual sorting ensured the removal of the grapes impacted by mildew and black rot. As berries showed a good phenolic maturity, tannins and color extractions were easy.

No cold pre-fermentation maceration was used this year. A soft extraction method was adopted: no grape-crushing, only pumping-over once a day(compared to two in average for the previous vintages).The time spent in the tanks was quite short (16 to 18days) and the fermentation temperature was low (23 to25°C), in order to extract naturally tannins and color.

Our goal is to produce fine and elegant wines.

The Wines - During harvest, grapes had a complete phenolic maturity with low degrees and interesting acid components. 2021 wines have a shiny, deep color and ripe tannins. Due to low temperatures throughout the year, they are fine, delicate, slightly crispy, with degrees around 12.5%. Each terroir shows a strong identity, highlighting the richness of the appellation. 2021 will also offer a great ageing potential!