Moulis

The place

Moulis lies in the middle of the Médoc peninsula, halfway between Margaux and Saint-Julien: a narrow ribbon 12 kilometers long, running inland at right angles to the estuary without ever reaching the water, its vines at 20 to 30 meters. The appellation is the commune of Moulis and named parcels of 3 neighbors, Castelnau-de-Médoc, Lamarque and Listrac-Médoc; Avensan and Cussac-Fort-Médoc were taken out when their growers stopped claiming it, and Arcins came out in the revision approved in 2020. The ground runs in 3 bands: Günz gravel to the northeast, clay and limestone from the center to the south, and high-terrace gravel to the west. The gravel suits Cabernet Sauvignon; the clay and limestone suit Merlot. The 634 hectares, about 4% of the Médoc’s vines, make an average of 25,000 hectoliters, in the hands of some 50 owners.

The rules

Red only, from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec (Cot in the rules), Merlot and Petit Verdot, with no share set for any of them. At least 7,000 vines a hectare, in rows no more than 1.50 meters apart, as in the other Médoc communes. Merlot must be picked at 189 g/l of sugar and the other varieties at 180; the wine must reach 11% of natural alcohol, at 57 hectoliters a hectare with a ceiling of 63. Destemming is compulsory, and the finished wine may keep no more than 2 g/l of sugar. It is raised until June 1 and sold from July 1 of the year after the harvest. The cahier des charges (the appellation’s official rulebook), the appellation’s official rulebook, was last modified on March 22, 2021.

The names

The label may read Moulis or Moulis-en-Médoc; the 2 names are 1 appellation. The name comes from the mills, the moulins, of the Middle Ages, when this was grain country; the vine came in the 13th century and made its name in the 19th. The syndicate was founded in 1936 and the appellation recognized by the decree of May 14, 1938. No estate in Moulis is ranked in the Classification of 1855; its standing was built in the bourgeois list of 1932, which named 34 properties of the commune, 14 of them Crus Bourgeois Supérieurs and 1 a Cru Bourgeois Supérieur Exceptionnel.

Color

Red

Communes

Moulis, with named parcels of Castelnau-de-Médoc, Lamarque and Listrac-Médoc

Vineyard

634 hectares, about 4% of the Médoc; 25,000 hectoliters a year; some 50 owners

Ground

Günz gravel to the northeast, clay and limestone in the center and south, high-terrace gravel to the west; 20 to 30 meters

Grapes

Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot

Density

7,000 vines a hectare at least, rows no more than 1.50 meters apart

Yield

57 hectoliters a hectare, ceiling 63

Alcohol

11% natural at least; 189 g/l of sugar for Merlot, 180 for the others

Cellar

Destemming compulsory; 2 g/l of sugar at most in the wine

Release

From July 1 of the year after the harvest

Classified

5 Crus Bourgeois in the classification of 2025

AOC since

May 14, 1938; cahier modified on March 22, 2021

Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges Moulis ou Moulis-en-Médoc, arrêté du 22 mars 2021 · FGVB, cahier des charges Moulis, les modifications de 2021