Pinot Noir Depth & Excellence from One of the Best Kept Secrets in Nuits-Saint-Georges

Domaine Alain Michelot isn’t what you would presently call a famous estate. Perhaps it is because of its small size. Or it could be the fact that the domaine does little to no self-promotion. The truth is that sometimes it is quite difficult to explain why certain winemakers become darlings of the international wine press while others just seem to keep producing great wines in relative obscurity.

The key word here is relative. In his book “Making Sense of Burgundy” published in 1989, Matt Kramer called Domaine Michelot “One of the best estates in Nuits-Saint-Georges.” Kramer goes on to heap praise over the concentration, depth, and exemplary quality of the estate’s wines.

The good news is that Michelot’s quiet excellence benefits us as consumers. While many wines produced in the most revered Premiers Crus of Nuits-Saint-Georges easily fetch upwards of $100 upon release, we are able to sell wines from these prized vineyards for much less.

Besides solid, traditional winemaking, the appeal of Domaine Michelot is that they hold an extraordinary range of great vineyards, mostly in Nuits-Saint-Georges (roughly 18 acres). They also have a few small plots totaling a little over one acre in Morey-Saint-Denis, and a tiny parcel in the Grand Cru of Clos Vougeot.

The domaine was first realized by Alain’s father in 1920. Alain took over in the mid-60s with the approach of allowing each of the vineyard parcels to express its place. Today it is Alain’s daughter, Elodie, who has methodically brought the domaine’s wines into even higher levels of distinction through lower yields and a slight but carefully considered reduction in the use of new oak barrels.

The 2015 Vintage Wines of Domaine Alain Michelot

Discount prices based on the purchase of a 6-pack(mix-and-match)

~$44 Morey-Saint-Denis
A charmer from one of the stronghold villages for quality red Burgundy.

~$71 “Les Charrières” Morey-Saint-Denis (Premier Cru)
The compact vineyard of Les Charrières lay just north of the village of Morey-Saint-Denis and opposite from the Grand Cru vineyard of Clos de la Roche. The soils are composed of clay and limestone with a fair amount of stones, creating wines of suppleness, depth, and finesse.

~$58 “Vieilles Vignes” Nuits-Saint-Georges
Old vines from the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges – robust and richly concentrated.

~$80 “Aux Chaignots” Nuits-Saint-Georges (Premier Cru)
The name Chaignots likely comes from a local dialect for iron-rich minerals. Despite that, the soil is brown-calcerous with quite a bit of clay. The resulting wines are firm and solid, with a good deal of substance and longevity. It is generally considered the biggest wine in the “zone Vosnoise” of Nuits-Saint-Georges: fat, rich, and long-lived.

~$80 “Les Cailles” Nuits-Saint-Georges (Premier Cru)
Along with Vaucrains this is a runner-up to Les Saint-Georges as the best vineyard in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The soil is described as “tres caillouteux” or “very stony” by the local growers’ association. It’s a complete wine with great density.

~$89 “Les Vaucrains” Nuits-Saint-Georges (Premier Cru)
One of the richest, most intensely aromatic wines, with concentration to spare. Vaucrains creates some of the most consistently fine wines in the region.

$189 Clos Vougeot (Grand Cru)
Monumental wine from a half-acre of 40 year-old vines in the Grand Cru of Clos Vougeot.

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Posted on 2019.01.31 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Burgundy