Producer Clotaire Michal

FRANCe, BEAUJOLAIS

After a work experience as a Sommelier in London, Clotaire Michal leaves the big city and restaurants to return to France, totally changing his life and dedicating himself to the land, to the vineyard. From 2008 to 2012 Clotaire produces St. Joseph from Syrah grapes by making wine at the winery of Thierry Allemand but it is not yet fully satisfied: he then chooses to face a new adventure in the magical world of Gamay. In 2013 he bought a property south of Brouilly, in St-Étienne-La Varenne: the energy that this 3.5-hectare patch of land can transmit is impressive. The Beaujolais is famous for the “Nouveau” version, a new wine that is put on the market in the third week of November. Less known are the purity and the great aging potential of wines produced with traditional vinification, such as those of Clotaire, non-commercial and renowned like the “Beaujolais Nouveau” version. The Gamay vineyards are located on soils composed of pink granite and sand, with traces of quartz. The age of the plants varies from vines of forty years up to more than a century. The processes are carried out completely in an organic way: no chemical products, manual grape harvesting, fermentation a whole bunch and with natural yeasts without temperature control, a minimum quantity of sulfur (about 3mg / L) only in the fermentation phase. The conception of Beaujolais is changing, especially now that Clotaire begins to listen to the earth and translate it into taste. Clotaire produces three labels until 2018: "La Napoleon", from the younger vineyards, "Vignes Centenaires" and "Libation" from the vineyards of over a hundred years limited to 550 bottles for the 2016 vintage. 2019 is a year of changes: Clotaire has changed the name of its bottles and left the Beaujolais-Villages appellation. “La Napoleon” has now become “Libre Pensèe” and “Vignes Centenaires” is now “à Fleur de Peau“, both Vin de France. A fourth is added to the three labels: “pour notre Dailia”, a Vin de France Pétillant.