Moulis-en-Médoc AOC

One of the six communes (along with Listrac-Médoc, Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe and Saint-Julien) within the French Médoc region (Haut-Médoc) that are appellations in their own right and are allowed to bear the commune name on the bottle label. The name (also Moulis-en-Médoc) derives from the many wind and water mills that used to operate here. The vineyards cover around 600 hectares of vines. The area forms a strip twelve kilometres long and up to two kilometres wide, running from southwest to northeast, between Margaux and Saint-Julien. The predominant soil consists of deposited gravel on a sandy loam layer. The area lies a little further back from the Gironde and is therefore at risk of frost due to the weaker temperature equalisation caused by the river.

There are none of the 61 châteaux here that were included in the Grand Cru list in the famous Bordeaux classification in 1855. The commune was not included in the classification at that time, because there were and are excellent wines here too. Around 30 wineries are classified as Cru Bourgeois and a dozen as Cru Artisan. The red wines in the typical Bordeaux blend(rive gauche) of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot are less tannic and more quickly ready to drink. Well-known wineries are Château Chasse-Spleen, Château Dutruch-Grand-Poujeaux, Château Gressier Grand-Poujeaux, Château Maucaillou, Château Moulin-à-Vent and Château Poujeaux.

Château Chasse-Spleen: © Benjamin Zingg
Map: By Domenico-de-ga from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, link
Modifications from the original by Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer 2017