
Moillard Brouilly Les Fées comes from Château de l’Abbaye de Saint Laurent d’Arpayé in Brouilly, Beaujolais, the southernmost and largest of the Beaujolais crus, spread around Mont Brouilly. “Les Fées” translates as “the fairies”, although I couldn’t find exactly how that links to the wine. It is made from Gamay, comes in at 12.5% abv and this is the 2024 vintage.
In the glass it is pale to medium ruby, light-catching and pretty. The aromas bring red cherry and raspberry, with a lovely savoury edge that keeps it from feeling too simple or sweet-fruited. The taste is all juicy red fruit, bright and easy to enjoy, but with enough tannin to give it shape. It is dry, light to medium in body, with medium tannins, although I found they sat a little lower the next day and/or when the wine was warmer. The finish is bright, perfumed and crunchy. During a UK 35°C heatwave, I also found it worked really well cooled.
It is a lighter wine, but still food friendly because of those tannins, so it has more versatility than you might first expect. Available for £14.50 from Ocado.











