Somewhat perversely, Johann Michel is one of the few of the new generation who is not related to Robert Michel – not directly, anyway. Along with Matthieu Barret at Domaine du Coulet – not to mention messrs Gilles, Paris and Robert, whom we have also met – he holds in his hands the medium-term prospects of this favoured appellation. Now farming over 3ha in various impressive sites, Michel destems this one and ages it in demi-muids – a semi-modernist, then. The 2018 is a classic, aromatically eloquent and finely judged on the palate so as to allow the generous fruit a full and pure expression.