Winemaker & Cellarmaster

Damien Michel Damien Michelis an enterprising oenologist, who has acquired a wealth of experience in both wine hemispheres and in a range of vineyards and cellars.

As a young trainee winemaker Damien served under the almighty wine guidens of master winemaker Patrick Léon at Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac, and he has been active in Chili, Australia and South Africa.

For Damien, the basic rules of vinification are hygiene, healthy, fully ripe grapes and a long fermentation process ensuring maximum extraction.

Wine production

The purpose of Damien, Montlobre's oenologist (winemaker) is to produce a characteristic, high-quality Merlot wine.

The emphasis in wine production is on pure, healthy, fully ripe fruits and a long temperature-controlled vinification process.

Full extraction of the grape must and professional technical monitoring during fermentation, allows a preservation and an accentuation of the subtlest taste nuances.

“Harvesting when the tannins are 100% ripe and a vinification period of 4 to 6 weeks before maceration, steeping the skins and fruit in the must, are the basics behind our quality approach!” Damien Michel

Maturation

After fermentation, which takes place in large stainless steel vats, the young wine is sent to the maturation cellar, which can be found in the picturesque Chapel of the domain.

Damien’s wine talent is shown in many ways but especially in the use of oak barrels, which he serves to soften young wine. Through a very slow oxygenation and with a lot of care, the oak imparts a fine note of incense and spice to the wine. The ageing process is particularly suitable for rich, ripe, concentrated grape varieties like the Merlot varieties at Montlobre. Only wine parcels like these can support and benefit to the maximum from Damien’s “longues cuvaisons” on Oak Barrels.

High quality wines need new Barrels and to secure this part, each year Montlobre invests a lot in a wide selection of the very best & finest oak Barrels mainly from France & America!