{"id":1002,"date":"2018-07-30T14:52:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T14:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2018-07-30T14:52:27","modified_gmt":"2018-07-30T14:52:27","slug":"chateau-portier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1002","title":{"rendered":"Ch\u00e2teau Portier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beaujolais is a section of Wine Country just north of the French city of Lyon.\u00a0 It is\u00a0 well known for \u00a0the Beaujolais Nouveau released each November.\u00a0 In Beaujolais, it is the celebration of the end of the harvest, without any pretention.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great marketing gimmick and is the inspiration for parties all over the French-speaking world, but these wines obscure the quality of some excellent wines made from the Gamay grape in this region.<\/p>\n

A slightly chilled Beaujolais Villages goes well with a barbecue on a warm summer evening, but these wines aren\u2019t very memorable, either.\u00a0 The best of Beaujolais comes from the crus<\/em>, 10 appellations in the northern end of the region.\u00a0 All of them are named after villages (Chenas, Julienas, Morgon, Brouilly, etc.)\u00a0 Well, all but one: Moulin \u00e0 Vent, which means windmill.\u00a0 And not just any windmill, but a specific one that became the emblem of this cru when the appellation was established in 1936. As noted, these folks have a flair for marketing.<\/p>\n

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The famous windmill of Moulin \u00e0 Vent.<\/em><\/p>\n

The windmill in question sits on a hill overlooking a wide valley, full of vineyards, in the town of Roman\u00e8ch-Thorins.\u00a0 Right across the road from the windmill is Ch\u00e2teau Portier, whose wines will provide a good introduction to this well-regarded region of Beaujolais.\u00a0 (Because it is the closest to the windmill, the owners of Ch\u00e2teau Portier are the official custodians of the landmark.)<\/p>\n

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One of the outbuildings at Chateau Portier.<\/em><\/p>\n

The proprietor is Denis Chastel-Sauzet, who is the president of the Moulin \u00e0 Vent vintners association.\u00a0 We\u2019re not sure what the President\u2019s duties entail, but it is a good indication that the other winemakers hold M. Chastel-Sauzet in high regard.\u00a0 The building that houses the winery is from the 19th<\/sup> century, with extensions that were there in the 16th<\/sup> and 17th<\/sup> centuries.\u00a0 You can walk around the grounds, which offer pleasant views of these older buildings and of the valley.<\/p>\n

The tasting room will remind no one of a Napa palace.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit dank but it is functional.\u00a0 And Ch\u00e2teau Portier bottles wines from all around the Beaujolais crus<\/em>, in addition to several from Moulin \u00e0 Vent.\u00a0 It\u2019s a better introduction to the quality wines of the region than in the Caveau de Moulin \u00e0 Vent (the local winemakers\u2019 cooperative) just down the road.<\/p>\n

Many critics would say that the finest Beaujolais wines come from Moulin \u00e0 Vent.\u00a0 While we appreciate other crus<\/em>, especially Morgon, we would be inclined to agree.\u00a0 There is a richness in the mouthfeel in these wines that make them much more interesting than the easy-going Beaujolais Villages and certainly more so than Beaujolais Nouveau.\u00a0 Top end Beaujolais wines deserve to be in any collector\u2019s cellar and the best of them are age-worthy and can accompany many meals, from steak to salmon.\u00a0 This is not to say that Ch\u00e2teau Portier is among the best of the region, but this winery is a worthy destination for a visitor who wants to see the famous moulin \u00e0 vent (the windmill) and learn about the wines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beaujolais is a section of Wine Country just north of the French city of Lyon.\u00a0 It is\u00a0 well known for \u00a0the Beaujolais Nouveau released each November.\u00a0 In Beaujolais, it is the celebration of the end of the harvest, without any pretention.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great marketing gimmick and is the inspiration for parties all over the … Continue reading Ch\u00e2teau Portier<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1005,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}