Michel Noëllat

Domaine Michel Noëllat has been in Vosne-Romanée since Félix Noëllat founded it in the nineteenth century. It is run today by the fifth generation, the cousins Sophie and Sébastien Noëllat: Sébastien takes the vines and the cellar, Sophie the commercial side. The estate covers 23.5 hectares spread over more than a hundred fragmented parcels and twenty-six appellations, running from Marsannay in the north to Pommard in the Côte de Beaune.

Two grands crus head the holdings: Échezeaux, from the Du Dessus climat, and Clos de Vougeot, inside the walled clos. Three Vosne-Romanée premiers crus follow: Les Suchots, between Richebourg and Échezeaux; Les Beaux Monts, high on the slope at the Échezeaux boundary; and Les Chaumes, lower down at the Nuits end of the commune. Beyond the home commune come Chambolle-Musigny premier cru Les Noirots, Morey-Saint-Denis premier cru Les Sorbès, and village wines in Chambolle-Musigny and Fixin.

The vineyards are worked under lutte raisonnée, without herbicides or insecticides, with the soils left to rest and a green harvest carried out at maturity. Fruit is picked by hand and fully destemmed, given a cool pre-fermentation soak, then raised in barrel in the stone vaulted cellar built in 1980, where the wine moves by gravity; a temperature-controlled stainless-steel vat room was added in 2009. The wines run to red cherry and raspberry, dark spice and a floral note on the Vosne bottlings, over fine tannin. Arcana Cabinet lists ten wines from the domaine: the grands crus Échezeaux du Dessus and Clos de Vougeot; the Vosne-Romanée premiers crus Les Suchots, Les Beaux Monts and Les Chaumes; village Vosne-Romanée; Chambolle-Musigny premier cru Les Noirots and village Chambolle-Musigny; Morey-Saint-Denis premier cru Les Sorbès; and a Fixin. The range also includes wines from twenty-six appellations in all, from Marsannay to Pommard.