“Parinet says that his first surprise was to find that there was a real identity in the wines corresponding to specific areas in the appellation, and overall he thinks it’s important for the region to focus on the specificities of the crus. His approach is one of aiming for high quality. These are ambitious wines, quite polished, but they’re also really good. I wasn’t expecting to like them as much as I did. The regular Château du Moulin-à-Vent 2014 is very fine with quite a bit of power to the expressive, mineral fruit. Croix de Vérillats 2014 is even better, with a haunting perfume of floral black cherry fruit and fine spicy notes. Champ de Cour 2014 and La Rochelle 2014 are also very fine.

“We also sampled two older wines. The first, a 1991, was beginning to show the first signs of decay, but also had some mature elegance, and the second, a 1976, was beautifully elegant and pure with brightness and focus – this had aged beautifully…”