Domaine Michel

The MICHEL family has been growing vines in Cray since at least 1850. Following in the footsteps of Marcel MICHEL, René MICHEL decided to start bottling in 1970, in order to make the most of the potential and qualities of this unique terroir.

Today, Denis, Franck and Vincent MICHEL cultivate with strength and conviction the taste for tradition passed on by René MICHEL, their father and grandfather.

The demand for quality handed down from our elders obviously implies, first and foremost, respectful and rigorous vineyard management. Organic fertilizers (composted manure) and regular ploughing help to maintain the soil and the balance of the plots. The “grafted-welded” vine plants used to maintain the vineyards are made on the estate, from grafts taken from old vines, to preserve maximum typicity. Winter pruning and green pruning at flowering around mid-June are deliberately short to control yields
the richest grapes possible. The vines are thinned out on the eve of harvest to aerate the bunches and optimize their exposure to the sun. Harvesting is carried out exclusively by hand, so the grapes are carefully sorted and picked at optimum ripeness.