2024 Domaine Diochon - Moulin-a-Vent V.V. (750ml)

Diochon has made one wine, and one wine only, since 1935: old-vine Moulin-à-Vent from five hectares of vines between 50 and 90 years old, some dating to the 1920s. Importer Kermit Lynch tasted a single cask here in 1984 and has been buying it ever since. Thomas Patenôtre has run the estate since 2007, farming sustainably with a growing emphasis on organic practices. The vines sit on manganese-rich granite, and the wine is made the traditional way, with whole-cluster semi-carbonic fermentation and aging in large old oak foudres. Expect a deeply colored, fuller-bodied Gamay with cherry and darker berry fruit, an earthy, savory edge, and notes of iron and smoke. The 2024 is silky and approachable, but Moulin-à-Vent is the Beaujolais cru built to age, so it also rewards a few years in the cellar. Great with roast chicken, charcuterie, or even a burger.