The 2018 Moulin-à-Vent is a sumptuous, wonderfully expressive wine. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, licorice and spice all flesh out in a racy Beaujolais endowed with terrific richness. The 2018 can be enjoyed now, but it also has the richness to age gracefully in the cellar for years to come. Readers who enjoy wines with more complexity will certainly want to wait a bit. The 30% whole clusters are not especially evident.

It’s rare to taste gamay from Moulin-à-Vent and think of Volnay. And, as much as I would praise the beauty and grandeur of this wine, a pure extract of the earth, I wonder what that association with the Côte de Beaune is all about. Since purchasing this historic property in 2009, the Parinet family has invested in renovating the old vines. Brice Laffond ferments this estate blend of fruit from 40- to 80-year-old vines using a substantial percentage of whole clusters. He limits the portion aged in barrels to 20 percent, creating a Moulin-à-Vent focused on finesse. It is downright delicious in 2018, with ample forest-berry flavors and mouth-filling tannins. Sophisticated and elegant, this can stand with its Côte d’Or cousins.