The high quartzite content that geologically links Chateau des Jacques’s 2010 Moulin-a-Vent Clos du Grand Carquelin with their Chenas En Papolet seems evident also in a prominent, mouthwatering salinity and a sense of lift and sappy brightness of red currant and red raspberry. Those looking for geological signs might associate the iron- and manganese-rich characteristic for Moulin-a-Vent in general with the deep beef marrow, meat-stock richness that underlies this Carquelin and supplies a dynamic, yet somehow by no means discordant, counterpoint to the wine’s sharply-focused red fruits. As with the corresponding Champs de Cour, tannin is very fine and in the background, and the texture is almost silken. Hints of lanolin and brown spices from barrel are discreet and well-integrated. This should be worth following for half a dozen or more years. (The 2009 performed this June at the upper end of my issue 190 projection, displaying an even more striking, shimmering mineral savor.) Jadot technical director, Jacques Lardiere, and Chateau des Jacques director, Guillaume de Castelnau, – for more about whose distinctive aspirations and methodology as well as about this estate’s vineyard sites consult my reports in issues 184 and 190 – did not compromise in 2010 on their intentions of rendering vins de garde by means of, among other things, extended elevage in largely new barrique. What’s more, they are among numerous Beaujolais producers to have favored pigeage (punch-downs) as a means of extraction in 2010 after having relied primarily on gentler remontage (pump-overs) in 2009. As my parenthetic remarks following each corresponding 2010 tasting note below reveal, the 2009s about which I waxed enthusiastic in issue 190 have with two exceptions fulfilled or exceeded my earlier assessments of their promise – in one case to such an extent that a completely new tasting note was warranted – and wine lovers should be scouring the market to acquire these gems. As usual, none of the latest crop of reds had yet been bottled when I visited in June, and final decisions had not been taken as to the assemblage for the two bottlings that are not vineyard-designated. I have elected to publish notes on the approximations that I tasted because to leave-out precisely the two wines that collectively represent the vast majority of Chateau des Jacques production would strike readers as odd and leave them unaided. (Naturally, the ultimate choice of barrels for the two grand assemblages impacts what is eventually bottled from each single vineyard, but largely in terms of quantity rather than quality, since from any given site, barrel-to-barrel deviance is small compared to that between sites.) Imported by Kobrand, Inc., New York, NY; tel. (212) 490 9300

A finely perfumed wine, touched with wood, Beaujolais in a Burgundy style, structured and with intense acidity. It is packed with firm tannins, surrounded by a lively cherry and rich fruit character.——R.V.(10/1/2011)—— 92