Jean-Paul Dubost En Brenay Moulin-a-Vent 2021

New devilishly good house red up for grabs! Bright, woodsy, and peppery Cru Beaujolais at a hardly comprehensible price is enough to win us over. Charming on its own, even better with food... do whatever you can to take home as many as possible!

Jean-Paul Dubost was born and raised in Lantignié – a small village in the northwestern reaches of Beaujolais, a stone’s throw from the Morgon and Régnié Crus, and just a few miles south of Burgundy’s Macon region. Since the mid-1990s, he’s run the family domaine, covering 26 hectares spread across Lantignié, Brouilly, Moulin-à-Vent, and Morgon. This fourth-generation vigneron has become a master of terroir expression and low-intervention winemaking, eventually falling on the radar of beloved East Coast wine importer Neal Rosenthal.

When we tasted this last week, we collectively flipped – this is a seamless and harmoniously balanced expression of Beaujolais’s top cru, Moulin-à-Vent, and one that vividly captures the manganese, granite, and iron schist soils of the En Brenay lieu-dit at the southern end of Moulin-à-Vent. Full carbonic maceration gives this a high-toned and bright demeanor – without a trace of that bubble gum/pop rocks sensation often associated with carbonic treatment. The effect is highly dramatic – cherries and violets beckon you into the glass, joining sensations of river rocks, red currants, teakwood, pink peppercorns, and sweet strawberries, all carried by this chalky, iron-laden base of silky, yet pervasive, structure. It’s elegant, but powerful... focused, yet expansive. One of the best Beaujolais we’ve tasted in a while – and one that will crush the vast majority of Burgundy reds at two or three times the price!

This wine utilizes whole clusters of 100% Gamay grapes that undergo carbonic maceration, followed by fermentation for a month in concrete and stainless steel tanks. Light filtration and minimal sulfur keep this balanced and gorgeously sound... and all-in-all perfect as a new, go-to house wine that will earn a spot at all your springtime gatherings and meals to come! We have the by-far lowest price in the whole country – but be sure to claim at least six of these to tack on free shipping!

PAIRING IDEAS: With the bright fruit, ample minerality, and seriously gorgeous floral notes – there are a lot of options here. I’m testing it out with a spring favorite – pancetta-wrapped pork tenderloin with quickly pan-fried fava beans, asparagus, morel mushrooms, and a smattering of fennel, chives, mint, and pea shoots. Perfection.