Chateau des Jacques 2006 Moulin-a-Vent Clos de Rochegres

Dark indigo color.

Cherry blackberry smell, with quite a bit of oak.

Tart black cherry/berry flavor, oak far in the background.

Excellent full-bodied cru beaujolais, $35.64/bottle. Balanced. Fruit-forward, ebullient.

Chateau des Jacques 2006 Moulin-a-Vent Champ de Cour

Quite dark, nearly opaque, purple/red.

Cherry, blackberry smells. Oak hidden in the background.

Dry fruity cherry/blackberry flavor, mild oak in the finish.

Restrained medium-to-full-bodied wine, $35.64/bottle. Elegant.

Chateau des Jacques 2006 Moulin-a-Vent Clos du Grand Carquelin

I begin an exploration of a trio of Louis Jadot / Chateau des Jacques single-vineyard cru Moulin-a-Vents, with a bit of age on them!

Deep garnet color.

Cherry / berry smells, with a bit of vanilla oak,

Warm cherry/blackberry/strawberry/blueberry fruit flavors, restrained oak.

Fairly complex, full-bodied Beaujolais, $28.23 / bottle. As serious a Beaujolais as I've ever had. I don't think I've before had a Beaujolais that could stand up to a dose of new oak, but it's not out of place here.

Joseph Drouhin 2006 Moulin-a-Vent

Deep ruby color, strikes me as an unusually deep color for a Beaujolais. Smell of strawberry and raspberry, hint of vanilla oak. Tart taste of berry fruit, some alcohol warmth, just a hint of bitter tannins and oak. I read elsewhere that perhaps this will benefit from further cellaring. I find that believable.

The next day perhaps the wine had further opened and was displaying the fruit even more prominently..

I won’t buy this again for $19.99. It’s in no way a bad wine, but neither is it a good bye. I’d probably spend that much on a bottle of 2007, when it becomes available, though.

This is the last Beaujolais for now. A nice Beaujolais is always welcome, but I'll be looking at some other things in the next few weeks.