93pts Wine Advocate
From another court-noué-impacted parcel that produces relatively small yields—35 hectoliters per hectare, to be precise—the 2022 Chablis 1er Cru Séchets is exhibiting notes of white flowers, lemon peel and beeswax mingling with oyster shell. It is medium to full-bodied, concentrated and racy, with a long, pungently intense finish. Together with Butteaux Vieilles Vignes, it’s one of the highlights of Michel’s premiers crus. Drink Date: 2025 - 2039

Guillaume Michel presides over this 25-hectare estate, with most of the land located in the historic part of Chablis. This estate has long been a reference point for tank-fermented and -matured Chablis, a style that the Michel family helped to popularize in the 1980s. Intense and tensile wines are the calling card here, pure and unadorned in style.

Seventy percent of Michel’s holdings are in premier cru and grand cru zones, with the average age of vines being 50 years. Today, seven people work in the vineyards year-round. Organic farming is practiced, except for years with major weather incidents.

In the cellar, fermentation is carried out with indigenous yeast, malolactic fermentation occurs spontaneously, and there is no cold stabilization. Some cuvées see a slightly longer élevage: usually eight to 10 months for Petit Chablis and Chablis Village, 13 to 18 months for premiers crus and 18 months for grands crus. This extended maturation on lees only enhances their quality.

Since 2021, all wines have been bottled under Diam closures, which should ensure their graceful evolution in the bottle.
Certain cuvées stand out—at the premier cru level, the old-vine Butteaux, Séchet and Montée de Tonnerre, while at the grand cru level it’s Vaudésir and Les Clos.

Published: Mar 06, 2025