A taste for tradition and for things done well. Passion and craftsmanship.
Tastings among friends at an estate are always an exceptional moment of pleasure, conviviality and discovery. That is why we always encourage our guests to go and meet our winegrowers and listen to them talk with passion about their craft and their own way of understanding and practising it. At Domaine Michel, tradition comes first, with harvesting done entirely by hand across all the terroirs.
It was on Sunday 11 October 2020 that we went for a tasting among friends at Domaine Michel in Clessé, run by Denis, Franck and Vincent Michel.
Franck is the one who welcomes us. We begin the tasting with a Mâcon Villages 2018. The opening alone is full of promise, with a likeable wine, fresh and lively, which you immediately picture alongside a few small Mancey goat’s cheeses and a slice of jambon persillé.
We continue with a Viré Clessé Tradition 2017, then a Viré Clessé Quintaine which will leave none of us indifferent!
But my own great favourite is the Viré Clessé Cuvée Vieilles Vignes. This cuvée, from the “Sur le chêne” terroir, with Chardonnay vines averaging around 60 years of age, has everything to please me, and I end up telling myself that I do have a soft spot for the atypical where wine is concerned too. Aged 12 months in oak barrels and then 12 months in stainless steel vats to achieve stability and consistency, this cuvée satisfies my liking for oak without excess. It may indeed surprise purists who insist on finding the typical Viré Clessé character in every Viré Clessé, but I am delighted to have different alternatives that nonetheless do not betray tradition. In short, I like being surprised and shaken up, not being lost — and here it works. Oh, and that honey colour too: I love it!
We go on with the Viré Clessé La Barre. The La Barre terroir is the cradle of Domaine Michel’s exceptional cuvées.
Set on the mid-slope, facing the rising sun, it consists mainly of vines
planted before 1930.
In some years this hillside benefits from the exceptional weather conditions of late September, with its morning mists and sunshine for the rest of the day, encouraging over-ripeness. The grapes then become “levroûtés” (coppery, amber glints typical of healthy over-ripeness, the colour of a young hare’s coat…). It is these particular conditions that give it that slightly mellow character.
This cuvée is aged slowly in stainless steel vats for two years before bottling.
Finally (or rather, alas) we conclude with the Héritage 2006 cuvée, made from the estate’s old vines; it is the symbol of the family heritage: a fine Héritage indeed.
The weather conditions favourable to the development of botrytis (noble rot)
appear only in rare vintages; the grapes then give wines of
exceptional concentration: great sweet wines, powerful, complex and balanced. This is typically a dessert wine, somewhat reminiscent of late-harvest wines with a slightly muscat character. This very particular Héritage cuvée is still available until roughly the end of the year, hardly longer, so we can only advise enthusiasts to be quick.
A huge thank you to Franck Michel for the patience with which he put up with all my questions and my photo barrage. Thank you too for letting us into his magnificent cellar.
We all loved the wines of Domaine Michel, unanimously, and we will recommend this estate to our guests without reservation — they already have the pleasure of finding it on our list.
A big thank you as well to our friend Maurice Machefaux for arranging this visit for us.
We then had dinner at La Virée Gourmande in Viré, but since one should not mix everything up, you will be able to read what we thought of it (once I have had time to write it).
