Moulis en Medoc

Bordeaux · France · Wine Auction Prices

Moulis-en-Médoc is one of the six communal appellations of the Haut-Médoc, and at approximately 630 hectares one of the smallest. Though no estate from Moulis was included in the 1855 Classification, the appellation has long produced wines of serious quality, particularly from the grand poujeaux plateau — a band of deep gravel running through the centre of the appellation that produces the Médoc's most concentrated and structured wines outside the famous communes. Château Chasse-Spleen is the appellation's undisputed flag-bearer, a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel that consistently achieves prices and critical scores rivalling many Cru Classé châteaux; its reputation was cemented by the late Bernadette Villars and continued by her daughter Claire, whose fastidious viticulture and restraint in the cellar have produced a long string of wines overperforming their appellation designation. Château Poujeaux, Château Maucaillou, Anthonic, and Gressier Grand Poujeaux are also noteworthy estates. The name 'Moulis' derives from the many windmills ('moulins') that historically dotted the plateau, grinding the grain that peasants brought up the Gironde from the Landes. The appellation sits between Listrac-Médoc to the north and Margaux to the south.

Moulis en Medoc

Château Chasse-Spleen is one of the most consistently over-classified wines in the Médoc: a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel by designation, it has been compared favourably to Third and Fourth Growths in repeated blind tastings, and its auction prices reflect this — bottles from 2000, 2005, 2009, and 2016 compete with classified wines twice its official ranking.

The grand poujeaux plateau beneath central Moulis contains some of the deepest gravel beds in the entire Médoc — up to 12 metres in places — which drains rapidly and forces vine roots down to extraordinary depths, producing wines of concentration and freshness that belies the appellation's relatively modest reputation.

Moulis was excluded from the 1855 Classification not because of inferior terroir but because the classification was based on the prices wines commanded in 1855 trade, and Moulis estates were sold primarily to Dutch and Belgian merchants who didn't participate in the Bordeaux négociant system that underpinned the classification process.

The name 'Moulis' comes from the Norman-French for 'mills': the plateau was dotted with windmills grinding Landes grain ferried up the Gironde estuary, and several millstones from these structures have been found during vineyard excavations, incorporated today as decorative features at leading estates.

$43

Avg Price / Bottle

335

Auction Lots

2017

Top Vintage

$6 – $308

Price Range

In the Glass

Moulis wines from the grand poujeaux plateau are among the most structured and age-worthy of the Médoc Crus Bourgeois — dark-fruited, with firm, well-integrated tannins, blackcurrant and cedar on the palate, and a long, earthy, mineral finish. Chasse-Spleen in particular shows remarkable elegance for a wine of this structure: precise, restrained, and long-lived, developing tobacco, leather, and truffle with 15–25 years' cellaring. The lesser estates are rounder and more approachable, with plum and herb character.

Red Wines

Wine	Avg Price	Lots Sold
Chateau Poujeaux Chateau Poujeaux, Moulis en Medoc	$40	118
Chateau Malmaison Chateau Malmaison, Moulis en Medoc	$13	13
Chateau Gressier Grand Poujeaux Chateau Gressier Grand Poujeaux, Moulis en Medoc	$64	10
Chateau Maucaillou Chateau Maucaillou, Moulis en Medoc	$88	10

Top Producers

Chateau Poujeaux Chateau Gressier Grand Poujeaux Chateau Malmaison Chateau Maucaillou

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