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Extraordinary Quality, Extraordinary Value
Fresh, Lively and Carefully-Crafted as Ever
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Louis Michel was a pioneer of the modern, fresh, unoaked, all stainless steel (inox) style of Chablis that is now becoming standard. The wines are standard-bearers for the style. Their quality and prices put many of the new 'arriviste' micro-domaines to shame.
"Guillaume Michel presides over this important 22-hectare estate, which has long been the reference for tank-fermented and matured Chablis, a style that the Michel family did much to popularize in the 1980s. Intense and tensile wines are the calling card here, pure and unadorned in style and consistently high in quality. Indeed, I sometimes think that Louis Michel is the most underrated of Chablis's larger domaines. The 2020 vintage is a real success here and likely the domaine's best since 2017." - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
In stock, and immediately available.
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Chablis Forets 2020
12 bottles available, $40 per bottle
91 points Burghound: "Ripe and airy aromas are spicier and comprised by notes of quinine, tidal pool, citrus rind and a touch of poached pear. There is again excellent volume to the very rich, even lush, flavors that coat the palate with dry extract on the moderately dry and sneaky long finish that offers good complexity that should only improve with age. (Drink starting 2027)"
Chablis Butteaux VV 2020
8 bottles available, $45 per bottle
93+ points Wine Advocate: "The 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux Vieilles Vignes will be bottled later than usual, as Michel was still waiting on the delivery of glass bottles when I visited—but extra time on the fine lees certainly won't do it any harm. Exhibiting aromas of pear, white flowers, freshly baked bread, confit citrus and iodine, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, with terrific depth and tension. It's a close race between this and Michel's Vaulorent this year."
Chablis Montmains 2021
23 bottles available, $39 per bottle
92 points John Gilman: "We decided to taste all of the premier crus that had been bottled a week before my visit first, followed by the Vaulorent and then the premiers that were still in tank. The 2021 Montmains is going to be an excellent wine, as it delivers a fine constellation of lime, green apple, chalky soil tones, dried flowers and a nice touch of beeswax in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, full and complex, with a lovely core of fruit, crisp acids, lovely mineral undertow and a long, vibrant and beautifully balanced finish. The nose was a bit reserved after the bottling a week ago, but the palate here is signing. It will be lovely. (Drink between 2023-2045)"
Chablis Butteaux VV 2021
20 bottles available, $45 per bottle
94 points John Gilman: "The 2021 Butteaux “Vieilles Vignes” had not yet been bottled and was showing beautifully as a result. The deep and pure bouquet jumps from the glass in a blend of pear, green apple, fresh lime, straw, a nice touch of smokiness, citrus zest and a complex base of chalky minerality. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and mineral-driven, with zesty acids, impeccable balance and a long, focused and bouncy finish. Fine, fine juice. (Drink between 2025-2050)"
Chablis Montee de Tonnerre 2021
15 bottles available, $45 per bottle
94 points John Gilman: "The 2021 Montée de Tonnerre from Guillaume Michel is also an outstanding wine in the making, but this is the most reserved of all the range of just-bottled premier crus and clearly will demand some cellaring before it starts to hit on all cylinders. With a bit of swirling, the wine offers up a complex nose of lemon, lime, green apple, beeswax, a complex base of limestone minerality, dried flowers and a topnote of citrus zest. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with excellent cut and grip, fine focus and a very long, mineral-driven and well-balanced finish. There is a lovely touch of salinity to the expression of minerality here that reflects the low yields and the excellent potential inherent in the wine this year. (Drink between 2026-2050)"
Chablis Vaudesir 2021
12 bottles available, $85 per bottle
95+ points John Gilman: "Domaine Michel’s parcels in Vaudésir actually have a northerly exposition and are nicely sheltered, so they were spared much of the frost damage and the yields here were only off by about ten percent in 2021. The wine has turned out splendidly, offering up a bright and complex bouquet of lemon, apple, dried flowers, a marvelously complex base of minerality, incipient notes of beeswax and a nice touch of orange peel in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very precise, with a great core of fruit, racy acids, superb mineral drive and a long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. This is going to be outstanding. (Drink between 2026-2060)"
Chablis Grenouilles 2021
6 bottles available, $89 per bottle
95+ points John Gilman: "The Domaine Michel vines in Grenouilles are at the very top of the slope in this grand cru, lying just over the boundary from the family’s parcels in Vaudésir. The vines in Grenouilles are sixty to seventy years of age and Guillaume notes that “they always produce lovely, small berries.” The 2021 Grenouilles has also turned out splendidly this year, delivering a refined aromatic constellation of lemon, pear, chalky minerality, a bit of smokiness, citrus peel and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off outstanding mid-palate depth, with fine cut and grip, excellent mineral undertow, zesty acids, seamless balance and a long, elegant and complex finish. Fine, fine juice. (Drink between 2026-2060)"
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Requirements
- Subject to final confirmation and remaining unsold
- Orders will be confirmed as received; please allow time for processing
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