The Sommelier, the Master of Cornas & Vin de Garde Gamay
A sommelier who trained in top restaurants across France and Britain, apprenticed for five years with Christophe Peyrus at Clos Marie, then spent another five at the feet of Thierry Allemand in Cornas — learning to work without chemicals, to read granitic soils, and to build great wines from tiny details. In 2013 Clotaire Michal bought 4 hectares of ancient Gamay south of Brouilly on pink granite and sand. His wife Yuka joined him in 2018. Together they make structured, age-worthy Gamays that are a world away from the carbonic glouglou that has come to define modern Beaujolais.
Origin — From the Dining Room to the Cellar of a Master
Clotaire Michal began as a sommelier, working in top restaurants in France and Great Britain. But the desire to make wine, not just serve it, grew until it could not be ignored. In the early 2000s he left the dining room for the vineyard, beginning a five-year apprenticeship with Christophe Peyrus at the renowned Clos Marie in Pic Saint-Loup.
In 2008 he returned to his native Rhône Valley to work under one of the greatest and most emblematic winegrowers in France: Thierry Allemand. It was here, at the undisputed master of Cornas, that Clotaire learned to work without chemicals, to read the granitic soils of the Northern Rhône, and to understand the tiny details that contribute to building great wines. For five years he worked daily with Thierry, absorbing a philosophy of rigour, patience, and absolute respect for the vine.
During this time Clotaire also produced a small amount of St. Joseph from Syrah, from just over a hectare of vines he had purchased in 2008. But with limited vineyard area and land prices rising in the Northern Rhône, there was no prospect of building a self-sustaining domaine of his own. After much searching, he fell in love with a 4-hectare property with very old vines south of Brouilly, in Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne. In late 2013 he bought the property and an old existing cellar. The first vintage was 2014.
Yuka joined him in 2018, and since then the domaine has been a true collaboration — two perspectives, one vision. The wines are still relatively unknown, but those who have tasted them speak with the fervour of converts.
The Place — Pink Granite, Sand & Ancient Gamay
Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne sits south of Brouilly in the southern Beaujolais, where the rolling hills are composed of pink granite and sand rather than the blue stone of the northern crus. At 385 metres elevation, the 4 hectares of vines catch the morning sun and cool in the evening breeze. The vines are old — 40 to over 100 years — and farmed organically without pesticides, chemicals, or synthetic products.
40 to 100+ Years Old
The vineyard is a living archive of Gamay. Younger vines at 40 years give freshness and fruit; the centenarian parcels give depth, concentration, and a sapidity that only ancient roots can draw from granite. The yields are low — 15 to 25 hectolitres per hectare — and the berries are small, intense, and thick-skinned.
Pink Granite & Sandy Soils
The soils are sandy pink granite with clay lenses — well-drained, mineral, and unforgiving. The pink granite gives a distinctive floral and spicy character to the Gamay, while the sand ensures drainage and stress. Southeast and north exposures balance ripeness with acidity.
Organic & Hand-Harvested
No pesticides, no chemicals, no synthetic products. All grapes are hand-harvested at optimal maturity, often in multiple passes. The farming is meticulous, almost obsessive — a legacy of the Allemand years, where every vine is known and every cluster is chosen.
Not Glouglou
The Michals are explicit: they do not make "glouglou" wines. What they craft are structured Vin de Garde Gamays — wines with tannin, acidity, mineral backbone, and the capacity to age 5, 10, 15 years. The carbonic, juicy Beaujolais of the last decade is not their model. Burgundy is.
Winemaking — Whole Cluster, Indigenous Yeast & Large Foudres
The cellar work at Domaine Clotaire Michal is a synthesis of everything Clotaire learned from Peyrus and Allemand, applied to Gamay. All grapes are hand-harvested and fermented whole-cluster using only naturally occurring indigenous yeasts. The approach combines carbonic maceration with Burgundian method — whole bunches in tank, light pump-overs, extended maceration, then pressing and completion of fermentation in vat or foudre.
Apart from a minimal sulfur addition of 1–3mg/L during fermentation (and occasionally 3g/hL before bottling on some cuvées), there are no additions made to the wines. No chaptalisation, no fining, no filtration, no temperature control, no enzymes. The wines are left to find their own way, guided only by tasting and patience.
Élevage is a minimum of 16 months for most cuvées, and up to 24 months for the oldest vines, carried out predominantly in large used oak barrels and foudres — 40hl French oak foudres, 5 years old or more, and used 225L barrels. The goal is not wood flavour but structure, oxygen exchange, and the slow rounding of tannins. Bottling is without fining or filtration.
The Wines — Structured, Mineral, Age-Worthy Gamay
A focused range of red Gamays and one white Chardonnay — all farmed organically, fermented whole-cluster with indigenous yeasts, aged in large foudres and used barrels, and bottled without fining or filtration. Wines of seriousness and pleasure, built for the cellar and the table.
Chardonnay
Estate white100% Chardonnay from a 0.3-hectare north-facing parcel at 385m, planted in 2017 on sandy pink granite and clay. Direct press, one night cold settling, then racked into stainless steel for natural fermentation. Aged 6 months in tank. Bottled without fining or filtration. Fresh, mineral, with a slight spritz — a rare white from a red specialist.
Terrien
Estate red100% Gamay from 40-year-old vines on sandy pink granite, southeast exposure. 7-day whole-cluster fermentation in fibre tank with indigenous yeasts, pressed on day 8, then back to fibre tanks to complete. Aged 5 months in large neutral vats. No sulfur added during vinification or ageing. Light, balanced, beautifully authentic — the entry point to the Michal universe.
Libre Pensée
Estate red100% Gamay from 40- to 80-year-old vines on sandy pink granite, southeast exposure. 15-day whole-cluster fermentation in fibre vats with indigenous yeasts, light pump-overs twice during maceration. Pressed on day 16, then transferred to 5-year-old 40hl French oak foudres for 24 months. A sulfur addition of 3g/hL one month before bottling. Bottled without fining or filtration. Pure, intense, gourmand — an incredible explosion of fruit with persistence and distinction.
À Fleur de Peau
Estate red (centenarian vines)100% Gamay from 100+ year-old vines on sandy pink granite, southeast and north exposures. 20-day whole-cluster fermentation in fibre vats with indigenous yeasts, light pump-overs. Pressed on day 21, then aged predominantly in a new 23hl oak foudre, with a small portion in fibre tanks. A sulfur addition of 3g/hL one month before bottling. Bottled without fining or filtration. A caress on the palate — sapid, delicate, a grand vin d'émotion from centenarian Gamay.
Pétillant Naturel
Méthode ancestrale sparkling100% Gamay from 40-year-old vines. Direct press, spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. Bottled under crown cap when the fermenting must reaches a density of 1.005, finishing fermentation in the bottle. Aged 9 months sur latte, then disgorged. No sulfur added. Just over 1 gram of residual sugar. Fresh, fruity, and alive — a pet-nat of rare precision.
Cuvée Spéciale (Extended Maceration)
Estate red (limited)100% Gamay from 60-year-old vines. 30-day whole-cluster fermentation in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts, light pump-overs and punch-downs. Pressed on day 31, then aged 16 months in used 225L oak barrels. No sulfur added during vinification or ageing. Bottled without fining or filtration. Deeper, more structured, with the tannic framework and mineral depth of a fine Burgundy — proof that Gamay can age with the best.
Legacy — Gamay With a Master's Hand
In just over a decade, Clotaire and Yuka Michal have built one of the most quietly impressive estates in the Beaujolais. Not through marketing, not through trend-chasing, but through rigour — the kind of rigour that comes from five years with Thierry Allemand, from tasting 3,000 wines a year as a sommelier, from understanding that greatness is built from microscopic attention to detail.
Their Gamays are not glouglou. They are not carbonic, not juicy, not meant to be chugged at a picnic. They are Vin de Garde — structured, mineral, tannic, age-worthy wines that demand a glass, a table, and time. In a region that has spent the last decade chasing the easy pleasure of carbonic maceration, the Michals have gone the other way — back to whole-cluster seriousness, back to large foudres, back to the idea that Gamay can stand beside Pinot Noir and Syrah in the cellar.
On pink granite south of Brouilly, with vines that remember the nineteenth century and a cellar that remembers Cornas, Domaine Clotaire Michal is proving that the Beaujolais renaissance has a serious wing — and that the best is still to come.