Type: Red
Vintage: 2022
Grape: Syrah
Country: France
Appellation: Vin de France
Nicolas uses younger vines planted across the river from Cornas on flat, alluvial soils (very similar to Crozes-Hermitage), for his Moulin wine designated Vin de France. Like the other wines, the grapes are gently crushed by foot and pressed in an old-fashioned basket press. Aged for around one year in older French oak barrels, this is a juicy wine driven by bright black and red cherries, with light baking spices and a slight earthiness.
On the 2020 vintage:
"Opaque ruby. Cassis, cherry, game and tobacco aromas are energized by a peppery nuance. Jammy black and blue fruit flavors open up slowly with air while developing suggestions of succulent herbs and bitter chocolate. It clings nicely on a smoky, gently tannic finish that shows good nerve and cut. This wine is made from young vines planted just outside Cornas, on gravelly soil near the Rhone. It shows quite an interesting character for its humble category. Drinking window: 2022-2026."
90 pts, Josh Raynolds, Vinous, December 2022