Alain Michelot NSG Les Cailles

M

Marc D

Marc Davis
Any love for Michelot's wines out there?
I rarely read any tasting notes about them.

This was the 2001 vintage, a recently found bottle from a small shop
recommended by BJ. My wife and I loved it.
It seemed pretty classic for NSG, big both in flavor and structure,
but also not spoofy and very much of its place.

The color was deep red with a little clearing at the rim.

Fabulous complex aromas, deep and wild, after only 30 minutes of being opened.
It started funky, with old cheese rind and smoke. The funk continued, but I noticed other things like candle wax, wild mint, and subtle amounts of fresh dark cherry fruit.

The mouth was pretty fierce, with popping acidity, cherry licorice, and mouth coating burly tannin. It was worthwhile opening now, if mainly for the nose, but was also great with food (pan seared filet mignon, with a sauce of stock, mushrooms, shallot, Dijon mustard, and a little cream). The structure made this a little strong for drinking without food, but it did soften with air a bit. I think it has the concentration to age, and the structure to last 10+ years, if the fruit doesn't dry out first.
 
Rehabilitating this ancient query. I thought I had a line this week on some 2000 Chaignots with which to fuel comment, but, alas, 'twas a ghost.

What's up with Alain Michelot? Book authors and tasters abroad seem to like him, but you never hear anything about him in the US, and he's a prominent NSG producer. He used to be in the Lynch stable, iirc, and his former overcropping abuses have been (I've read) moderated.

Experiences?
 
I'm a fan. I've had excellent bottles from the '90s, which was supposedly the period of high yields and machine harvesting, so they ought to be even better now. I might prefer the Vaucrains to the Cailles.
 
Thanks. Our 2009 Burgundy tasting with Maureen et al. at Lavandou, of which notes are posted here and elsewhere, included a Michelot les St. Georges, but, for the life of me, I can't remember anything about it. (My main takeaway that evening was the powerful aromatics of the Briailles Ile.)
 
House Burgundy. Love them.

Keith is on to something: as it stands, Cailles is of much younger vines than Vaucrains; can't recall the difference atm but it's not insignificant. What I also don't recall is whether this was the case back in 2001 (per Marc's note), or if some major replanting has taken place since then. We can probably dig up the info without too much difficulty.
 
I'm just coming to the end of a case of 91 Vaucrains which has been rather wonderful. I knew yields were quite high(not by any means always an indicator of bad wine) but not that they were machine harvested, which is rather a shocker.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
House Burgundy. Love them.

[...] We can probably dig up the info [...]
Click to expand...

Is this a play on words, tovarish?

originally posted by Tom Blach:
I'm just coming to the end of a case of 91 Vaucrains which has been rather wonderful. I knew yields were quite high(not by any means always an indicator of bad wine) but not that they were machine harvested, which is rather a shocker.
Click to expand...

I think I remember Lynch in his Adventures quoting the then pater familias as endorsing 'un bon cinquant,' as in hl/ha (I think those are the right units). A domaine visit note around 2013 by StevenB in Berserkers records a generational change of hands, however, in which the daughter, taking up the reins, was slimming yields. I don't recall if hand- vs. machine-harvesting was discussed.

In any event, I'm glad to hear about your experience, as I've already rolled the dice on a few 2012 les St. Georges for the old age/retirement cellar.
 
given the cru, the vintage, and the winemaking 12 LSG is going to take a while :-)

has anyone tasted her clos vougeot? it does not suck.

gospodin will do.
 
Mr. Pavel:

Yes, I'm mostly only buying bottles for 15-25 years out now. Burgundy 2012 seems like a target-rich backfill environment for this focus - they haven't been completely swept up in the prevailing price bounce (and likely persistent) price bounce.

I have not tasted Vougeout from any producer, but my services are available, should such tasting be required.

Respectfully.

Ian
 
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