One of the most respected domaines in Meursault, Michelot make beautifully saline, mineral white wines in a modern, terroir-driven style.  Jean-François Mestre and his son Nicolas run the domaine, but we first visited here over twenty years ago, to taste with Nicolas' grandfather, Bernard Michelot.  It was the diminutive but charming Bernard who made the domaine so popular in the 1970s and 80s, producing wines in the rich, buttery style which became popular at the time, with plenty of new oak influence.  He was also one of the first producers to bottle his various lieux-dits as separate cuvées. 

We were lucky enough to meet Bernard in the late '90s, and to taste vintages going back to the 1950s with him.  On our last visit, we were reminded of a story he used to tell about the Clos St. Felix lieu dit, a walled vineyard that sits immediately behind the domaine.  Bernard always used to say that he knew the Clos was warmer than the surrounding vineyards, as during the war, he used to break the nighttime curfew to visit his girlfriend.  When he returned late at night and climbed over the wall into the Clos, he would always notice how much warmer it was!

Winemaking, now under Nicolas, is more modern: less new oak, less batonage, and more focus on retaining fruit purity and terroir.  Taut but delicious when young, their Meursaults age effortlessly.  We recently purchased a small parcel of the 2004 Meursault Village from a private cellar and, sixteen years on, it was still drinking well.  The domaine currently has 23 hectares, with one of the largest holdings in Meursault itself.  Parcels of vines for the village wine are spread across the appellation, one reason why this is a benchmark wine, very representative of the wines from this village.

Michelot's Meursaults are enjoyed by Burgundy-lovers around the world but remain slightly below the critics' radar.  One Burgundy insider tells us that Jean-François Coche-Dury (possibly Meursault's greatest winemaker) says that Michelot is hugely underrated; their wines can be had for a tenth of the price of equivalents from Coche-Dury, i.e. the price of a bottle of Coche almost buys you a case of Michelot.

The Meursault lieux-dits 'Clos St Felix' and 'Les Grands Charrons' are a notch up from the village wine in price, but with more than enough added richness and saline, mineral freshness to justify this.  The Santenay Blanc 'Les Gravières' premier cru borders Chassagne and has more weight and seriousness to it than many a Chassagne or Meursault.  Four Meursault premiers crus are bottled, 'Les Poruzots, 'Les Perrières', 'Les Charmes' and 'Les Genevrières'.  'Les Genevrières' is named after the juniper trees which used to grow here.  This premier cru produces some of the richest and most structured Meursaults from the appellation, with excellent ageing potential.  The soil is clay/limestone with a subsoil of pebbles, volcanic rock and white limestone. Michelot have two parcels in the middle of the slope, at 250-275 metres above sea level.  Known as "Genevrières Dessus", these higher parts of the cru produce superior wines to those from the lower slopes.