Tasted in Chablis with Guillaume Michel, 02 February 2024.
Domaine Louis Michel
9 boulevard de Ferrières
89800 Chablis
Tel: +33 3 86 42 88 55
www.louismicheletfils.com
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Guillaume on 2023:
“I’m quite happy as I thought at one stage that it could be a disaster – the yields looked high and there was quite a bit of mildew – here in the grand crus I did half a crop – but in the end I was happy. Our maximum was a bit more than 70 hl/ha in one small parcel – but it was variable for sure. Some quite tricky, slow fermentations – some places with higher alcohols – as much as 14° but others were under 12.5° – it depended a bit on the volume of each place. We managed the oïdium quite well – it seems a lower-order problem if you are organic because we treat so regularly.”
Guillaume on 2022:
“We still had areas that were frosted, mainly our Petit Chablis, Butteaux and Vaillons but the Chablis was good and so was Monté de Tonnerre – and it usually frosts in Montee de Tonnerre! We lit candles on the 3rd, 4th and 10th of April. This is a good vintage, typical of the ‘new style’ of Chablis – 31st August harvesting – like in 2020. We had to start so early, especially in the grand crus, as the maturity came so fast. 10 years ago we didn’t start harvesting with grand crus but we do now. Good yields of healthy ripe grapes. Not all the wines are bottled but it’s a vintage you can start drinking almost from the start. It was much easier in the cuverie in 22 vs 23 – come to think of it, also easier than 21!”
The wines…
Most years I place Guillaumes wines near the top of the pile – but this year he’s easily made my list of the top 4 domaines. There is a clarity and energy to his wines and a whole bunch of them are great – which is comparitively rare in 2022.
“I just got so frustrated with the variability of my wines under cork – not ‘just’ because of corked wines – and who knows, one day I may go back to cork as I still think that the greatest wines can be found under cork. All the wines are now sealed with DIAM – just the Vaulorent last year (2021) with natural cork as my DIAM delivery hadn’t arrived! But all since are with DIAM.”
2022 Petit Chablis
From above and behind Valmur from 2 ha of vines. Not the worst – that was maybe Forets or Montmains a bit more for volumes…
Easy, fresh, very attractive citrus complexity. Some richness and depth to this flavour. Almost a stony core – that’s a beautiful finish – excellent PC!
2022 Chablis
A more subtle, shy nose. This more direct and incisive a wine that fades oh-so slowly in a delicious finish – simply excellent wine – maybe a great wine if it grows wider shoulders and a little more aroma.
2022 Chablis 1er Montmains
Broader freshness – so attractive! More scale here – I like the architecture – the salinity is clearly on a higher level too. Depth of flavour and great texture – the salinity is more pronounced in the finish too. A beauty!
2022 Chablis 1er Les Forêts
15k bottles in a ‘normal’ year – in 2021 there was just 3k…
Just a hint more direct and finer, smaller complexities. Hmm – direct, panoramic, slowly melting with super-precise citrus flavour – becoming concentrated and slightly harder today in the finish – but that will relax in a year or two – I think it better even than the Montmains.
2022 Chablis 1er Butteaux
All these parcels (except Butteaux VV) are of similar age of vines. This has similar soil to Montmains, but Montmains is cooler, Forêt with more stones
Also a panoramic nose, less impact than the Forêts but with an extra floral character. A more direct and overtly silky wine – the salinity more visible today vs the Forêts. Broader, slightly more fleshy texture to the finishing citrus. Ooh – I love that – wait also a couple of years!
Pretty, more overtly yellow citrus – crystalline clarity – so good! In the mouth too – this wine has a tiny reduction but it’s not diverting me from the fluidity and precision of this great Vaillons – bravo!
Also a climat that is cooler with lots of clay.
A more discreet nose – but also with beautiful clarity and a faint, almost haunting floral aspect. The most overtly mineral wine we’ve tasted so far – what a great wine – clarity and almost a cascade of juicy, perfumed, finishing flavour. Bravo!
More airy but with depth of aroma too. Extra wide – panoramic – the mineral stature of the last, perhaps faintly more incisive. It’s a wine I’d wait longer to open – maybe 3 years to start with – but it’s also a great wine.
The rest of these wines tasted from tank samples:
Hmm – this has beautiful dimensions of aroma and is more demonstrative than the MdT today – great. Also wow in the mouth – intense but wide-screen in flavour. The citrus intense here but not hard. Also to wait for but what a combination of intensity and clarity! Bravo!
The old vines here are a little lower on the hill.
Less impact than Sechets but more perfumed and floral. Ooh! That’s got so much volume that I question how it can also be so incisive. Pure but concentrated – the fluidity of this meaning you hardly note the generosity of the wine. Slowly fading – actually quite a discreet finish vs the rest of the wine – but no less persistent than the wines around it I think. That will be a great one too.
From the north-facing hillside which helps conserve the freshness in warm vintages, but needs later harvesting…
Also not a forward nose – but what more could you wish for than width, clarity and perfume!(?) Complex, and such depth of flavour – a subtle generosity but not a bit rich. Almost the complete wine? Bravo – what harmony!
A deep, quite vertical nose – a rare 2022 with some lime complexity. Really mineral, but fluid despite the extract here – intense, lots of citrus complexity, still with that accent of lime. Slowly fading – I love it – and I’d possibly keep it longer than either of the GCs that bookend it!
Almost a little fumé accent to this minerality – slowly opening with floral notes and more overt citrus. Largest scale in the mouth – but fluid and mineral – not a wine of density. The base is of a fine energy. The width of finishing flavour a wave of salinity. That’s going to be quite a wine – if you have the time, wait 10 years! Bravo!