Producer Article
José Michel & Fils
Last edited on 10/3/2012 by iByron
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The affable, hospitable José Michel is something of a legend among champagne aficionados with an interest in pinot meunier. Located in the village of Moussy, in an area just southwest of Epernay called the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay, Michel makes ample, meunier-dominated wines of great character and depth. The Michel family has been growing vines here since 1847, and José Michel’s grandfather, Paul, began estatebottling in 1912. José is the fourth generation of his family to run the estate, and has been making wine here since 1952. His ten hectares of vineyards are spread over 30 parcels in seven different villages; about half of the vineyard area is planted with meunier, with the rest mostly chardonnay, together with a small percentage of pinot noir. Although in the past Michel used to ferment his wines in 600-liter, oak demi-muids, today the wines are largely fermented in stainless steel tanks. In the early 1990s Michel began to experiment a little with barriques, but only for chardonnay, as he feels that meunier already possesses enough intrinsic richness and doesn’t need any additional amplification. Most of the upper-end cuvées are now fermented in tank but contain some wine that’s aged for a few months in old barrique, and since 1998 Michel has also fermented some of his blanc de blancs in barrel. José Michel’s wines are generous and richly expressive, with an ample character typical of the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay. They possess a strong terroir character, especially the vintage wines, and in the calcareous clay soils of the area this is expressed more as a broad earthiness rather than the incisive chalkiness of the nearby Côte des Blancs. Michel is undoubtedly one of the reference points for meunier wines, achieving an enviable balance and completeness with this variety. Michel produces three non-vintage wines: a classic brut with a high proportion of meunier, formerly called the Carte Blanche but renamed Tradition in 2009; an extra brut that also blends meunier and chardonnay; and since 2004, a 100-percent meunier cuvée. The vintage-dated blanc de blancs is all from the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay, offering a stark contrast in terroir character to the chardonnays of the Côte des Blancs, and Michel typically offers two different vintages of blanc de blancs simultaneously, with one held back for considerably more time on the lees. Chardonnay also figures prominently today in the estate’s vintage brut, generally around 60 percent, with the balance composed of meunier, and as of the release of the 2002, this cuvée is now called Grand Vintage. The oldest meunier and chardonnay vines of the domaine, which are over 45 years of age (and up to 70 years), are used for the Spécial Club—Michel has been a longtime member of the Club Trésors de Champagne, and his Spécial Club is a true prestige cuvée. Michel has been a meunier specialist for decades, and in the past, his vintage wines used to be pure meunier. These can still be terrific now, as I’ve seen from old bottles that Michel has generously poured for me over the years, and many of these old wines demonstrate that meunier in the right hands can often age remarkably well, despite its reputation for making early-maturing wines. Fortunately for us, Michel has told me that he will once again release a vintage-dated meunier in the near future, something that I am very much looking forward to.
The affable, hospitable José Michel is something of a legend among champagne aficionados with an interest in pinot meunier. Located in the village of Moussy, in an area just southwest of Epernay called the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay, Michel makes ample, meunier-dominated wines of great character and depth. The Michel family has been growing vines here since 1847, and José Michel’s grandfather, Paul, began estatebottling in 1912. José is the fourth generation of his family to run the estate, and has been making wine here since 1952. His ten hectares of vineyards are spread over 30 parcels in seven different villages; about half of the vineyard area is planted with meunier, with the rest mostly chardonnay, together with a small percentage of pinot noir. Although in the past Michel used to ferment his wines in 600-liter, oak demi-muids, today the wines are largely fermented in stainless steel tanks. In the early 1990s Michel began to experiment a little with barriques, but only for chardonnay, as he feels that meunier already possesses enough intrinsic richness and doesn’t need any additional amplification. Most of the upper-end cuvées are now fermented in tank but contain some wine that’s aged for a few months in old barrique, and since 1998 Michel has also fermented some of his blanc de blancs in barrel. José Michel’s wines are generous and richly expressive, with an ample character typical of the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay. They possess a strong terroir character, especially the vintage wines, and in the calcareous clay soils of the area this is expressed more as a broad earthiness rather than the incisive chalkiness of the nearby Côte des Blancs. Michel is undoubtedly one of the reference points for meunier wines, achieving an enviable balance and completeness with this variety. Michel produces three non-vintage wines: a classic brut with a high proportion of meunier, formerly called the Carte Blanche but renamed Tradition in 2009; an extra brut that also blends meunier and chardonnay; and since 2004, a 100-percent meunier cuvée. The vintage-dated blanc de blancs is all from the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay, offering a stark contrast in terroir character to the chardonnays of the Côte des Blancs, and Michel typically offers two different vintages of blanc de blancs simultaneously, with one held back for considerably more time on the lees. Chardonnay also figures prominently today in the estate’s vintage brut, generally around 60 percent, with the balance composed of meunier, and as of the release of the 2002, this cuvée is now called Grand Vintage. The oldest meunier and chardonnay vines of the domaine, which are over 45 years of age (and up to 70 years), are used for the Spécial Club—Michel has been a longtime member of the Club Trésors de Champagne, and his Spécial Club is a true prestige cuvée. Michel has been a meunier specialist for decades, and in the past, his vintage wines used to be pure meunier. These can still be terrific now, as I’ve seen from old bottles that Michel has generously poured for me over the years, and many of these old wines demonstrate that meunier in the right hands can often age remarkably well, despite its reputation for making early-maturing wines. Fortunately for us, Michel has told me that he will once again release a vintage-dated meunier in the near future, something that I am very much looking forward to.