The 2022 vintage was a solar year by any measure: significantly more sunshine than average, dramatically reduced rainfall through the growing season, and a summer that constantly pushed Gamay toward peak concentration. The best 2022s from Moulin-à-Vent rank among the most concentrated and structured expressions the cru has produced in recent memory—and precise harvest timing was the difference between the great and the merely good. Mommessin picked in August.

Those conditions found ideal ground here. Moulin-à-Vent's soils are shallow, pink brittle granite laced with unusually high concentrations of manganese—a mineral signature that tightens Gamay's naturally exuberant character and gives the wines their distinctive structure and depth. The single domaine behind the Grandes Mises selection benefits from all-direction sun exposure save the north, and the vines—averaging 50 years old—are deep-rooted enough to stay composed through a summer that tested younger plantings across the appellation.

The grapes were fully destemmed and gravity-fed into concrete vats for a 25-day maceration with regular pump-overs—long enough to build the wine's structure without heaviness, short enough to preserve the freshness those granite soils provide. From there, 10 months on fine lees in three- to five-year-old oak barrels: neutral enough not to impose flavor, present enough to allow quiet integration.

In the glass: deep ruby with a garnet core, and a nose of black cherry, wild raspberry, and plum skin layered with violets, cracked pepper, and a subtle earthy note that speaks directly to those granitic soils. The palate builds from silky to firmly structured, with fine, mineral-driven tannins and notes of black tea, crushed stone, and warm spice running through the mid-palate. It's drinking beautifully now and has every reason to reward those who give it time.