Domaine Saint-Cyr is a family winery where the vines are organically cultivated, with complete respect for the environment and without using any fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides or compounds made from chemicals.

Raphaël Saint-Cyr is the fourth generation of the Saint-Cyr family and has been the driving force behind adapting the Domaine to the changing times, modifying the way of working to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly. In 1963 his great-grandfather had 13 hectares, which have now become a total of 27, all of which are certified organic vineyards.

The winery has some of the largest organic plots in Beaujolais, with the team working according to the principles of biodynamic agriculture and with minimal intervention. This results in an honest expression of the Gamay variety with a clear personality from the area it grows in.

Moulin-à-Vent is known as “the king of Beaujolais crus”. The vineyards planted in this area have exceptional qualities thanks to their manganese-rich granite soils that, along with the climate, produce robust and tannic wines.

A single-variety Gamay red wine produced in the A.O.C. Beaujolais.

The Domaine Saint-Cyr Moulin à Vent La Bruyère wine is made with clusters that grow on vines planted in pink granite soils and are manually selected. When they reach the winery, they are completely destemmed and undergo alcoholic fermentation with their own yeasts. The resulting wine undergoes malolactic fermentation and 50% is aged in barrels that have been used at least six times for around 18 months.

A red wine that offers aromas of red berries on the nose, subtle minerality and a floral note of iris. On the palate it is fresh, with silky tannins and a pleasant acidity.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate – 93 points

The 2018 Moulin-à-Vent Bruyère is showing especially well this year, bursting with aromas of black raspberries, candied peel, plums and spices. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered and complete, with an enveloping core of fruit and powdery structuring tannins.

Raphael Saint-Cyr is delighted with his 2018 vintage. “It’s all fruit, fruit, fruit!” he exclaims. Saint-Cry is increasingly committed to strict carbonic maceration for all his reds, and even his Chénas Blémonts and Morgon Charmes are headed in that direction. “I don’t know what pigeage is any more,” he joked. That’s indicative of a wholesale embrace of unabashed drinkability, a choice that’s apparent in all of these expressive, immediate wines. Working with minimal sulfur dioxide, this might not be Beaujolais built for the long haul, but since it’s so pleasurable on release, who is complaining? Certainly, Saint-Cyr is a dynamic force in the southern Beaujolais—something that’s sorely needed.