Moulis

Three Gallo-Roman sites are known here. In the Middle Ages the Médoc fed Bordeaux, and the many mills (moulins) that ground its grain gave Moulis its name. The vineyard grew from the thirteenth century around a Romanesque church, while farmers despised the poor gravel as "bad pebbles", the origin of the place name Maucaillou. In the eighteenth century large estates cleared the gravel of Grand Poujeaux for vines. The reputation of the wines grew in the second half of the nineteenth century, and the vineyard reached 1,500 ha before phylloxera. A growers' syndicate formed in 1936, and the appellation was recognised by decree on 14 May 1938, amended on 4 January 1939 to admit old-established parcels in neighbouring communes; a revision approved in 2020 removed Arcins.

Moulis lies halfway between Margaux and Saint-Julien, in a narrow ribbon about 12 km long running east to west, at right angles to the estuary. It is the westernmost communal appellation of the Médoc and the only one without a frontage on the Gironde. Gentle slopes lie at 20–30 m. In the north-east, Günz gravel rises are linked by sandy gravel over clay-limestone; clay-marl ground runs west of them to the south of the village, and the south of the commune is mainly clay-limestone. West of Bouqueyran the high-terrace gravel appears before giving way to sand and the Landes forest. Narrow wet valleys hold sandy colluvium. The climate is mainly Atlantic, with rain spread through the year and variable late summers.

The specification describes reds that are fine and round from their first years, because they are often led by Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon, and that reach their peak after seven to ten years thanks to good tannin. Wines from gravel combine elegance, power and complexity; those from clay-limestone are a little more full-bodied. It assigns the north-east gravel to Cabernet Sauvignon, the clay-limestone in the centre to Merlot, and the high-terrace gravel in the west to both. The Bordeaux wine council calls the clay-limestone particularly suited to Merlot.

Moulis, or Moulis-en-Médoc, is red only, from Moulis-en-Médoc and listed parcels in Castelnau-de-Médoc, Lamarque and Listrac-Médoc. The grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère. The rules require at least 7,000 vines per hectare, at most 12 buds per vine and 9,500 kg of grapes per hectare, a base yield of 57 hl/ha and ageing until at least 1 June after the harvest. No estate was classified in 1855; the 1932 Crus Bourgeois list included 34 Moulis properties. The specification gives 634 ha and about fifty owners; the Bordeaux wine council gives 600 ha.