Domaine Michel Niellon

Many generations of the Niellon family were involved in viticulture in Chassagne-Montrachet before Marcel Niellon. His son Michel Niellon began working with him in the 1950s, when the domaine had 4 hectares, and commercial bottling began towards the end of the 1960s. Michel Coutoux, Michel Niellon's son-in-law, began working with his father-in-law in 1990. The family home of Michel Niellon, with its very small cellars, remains in old Chassagne-Montrachet; as of January 2018 the domaine's vinification home was a newer, more spacious cellar in the Le Haut des Champs area of the village, alongside domaines such as Pierre-Yves and Caroline Colin-Morey, Philippe Colin and Jean-Marc Pillot. The domaine had grown to 7.5 hectares by January 2018.

• 1950s: Michel Niellon began working with his father Marcel, when the domaine had 4 hectares.
• Late 1960s: commercial bottling began.
• 1990: Michel Coutoux began working with his father-in-law, Michel Niellon.
• Address (as of October 2023): Le Haut des Champs, 21190 Chassagne-Montrachet.

As of January 2018, Michel Coutoux was presenting the domaine's wines. On bottling typically after 12 months of elevage, he said: “I aim to keep the same esprit as Michel Niellon.” His daughter Lucie Coutoux came to the domaine in 2017 and presented the domaine's wines at tastings from October 2019 to October 2023. On the reds, she has said: “My grandfather and father didn’t have enough time for the reds.”

• Michel Coutoux: son-in-law of Michel Niellon, at the domaine since 1990.
• Lucie Coutoux: daughter of Michel Coutoux, at the domaine since 2017; she presented the wines in October 2023.

The Bourgogne Chardonnay comes from one parcel directly in front of the winery. The village Chassagne-Montrachet blanc came from 20 different parcels in 10 climats in 2022. La Maltroie is the domaine's largest parcel, almost 1 hectare of three different vine ages, with some Pinot Noir; in 2020 the domaine took out half of the young vines, planted in 2012, because of a problem with the 161-49 rootstock. Champs Gains lies just over the road from La Maltroie. Chenevottes comes from two neighbouring parcels with different vine ages. Clos Saint-Jean comes from two parcels high on the slope near the quarry, one in Clos Saint-Jean and one in the climat of Rebichets below; the domaine pulled out its Pinot Noir there because of disease and plans to replant Pinot Noir. Clos de la Truffière, in Les Chaumées, lies high on the hillside and holds the domaine's oldest vines, more than 100 years old, on little soil; the clos is just under one hectare and has three owners. In Vergers, vines on the 161 rootstock were dying, and the domaine decided to pull them out for replanting; the 2020 was the last Vergers for a few years. Chevalier-Montrachet is the domaine's only parcel in Puligny-Montrachet, a plot at the base of the slope just below vines of Bouchard, with Leflaive parcels on both sides and Laguiche's Montrachet below. It came into the family as a wedding gift to Lucie Coutoux's great-great-grandmother.

• La Maltroie: the largest parcel, almost 1 hectare, with three vine ages.
• Clos de la Truffière (Les Chaumées): the domaine's oldest vines, more than 100 years old.
• Vergers: vines pulled out for replanting, with no Vergers for a few years as of October 2022.
• Chevalier-Montrachet: the only parcel in Puligny-Montrachet, a wedding gift to Lucie Coutoux's great-great-grandmother.

The whites are a Bourgogne Chardonnay; a village Chassagne-Montrachet; Premier Cru Chassagne-Montrachet from La Maltroie, Champs Gains, Chenevottes, Clos Saint-Jean and Clos de la Truffière in Les Chaumées, plus Vergers, whose vines had been pulled for replanting by October 2022; and Grand Cru Chevalier-Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet. The reds are a village Chassagne-Montrachet blended from three parcels and Premier Cru Chassagne-Montrachet from Clos Saint-Jean (2018 and 2019 vintages) and La Maltroie (2021 and 2022 vintages). In 2022 the village white was worth 20,000 bottles, 40% of the domaine's production. With the 2022 vintage, the domaine moved all its wines except the Chevalier-Montrachet to a technical cork closure. In a tasting of 2014 Montrachet and its surrounding Grands Crus reported in Decanter by Charles Curtis MW, the domaine's 2014 Bâtard-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet were both brilliantly fresh, and Decanter's 2023 en primeur report called the 2023 Chevalier-Montrachet “among the luminous successes of the vintage.”

• Whites: Bourgogne Chardonnay, village Chassagne-Montrachet, five Premier Crus plus Vergers (vines pulled for replanting by October 2022), Chevalier-Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet.
• Reds: village Chassagne-Montrachet and Premier Crus Clos Saint-Jean (2018 and 2019 vintages) and La Maltroie (2021 and 2022 vintages).
• From the 2022 vintage, all wines except the Chevalier-Montrachet use a technical cork closure.

As of January 2018, fermentation began in stainless steel tanks before the wine moved with plenty of lees to barrels for malolactic fermentation and maturation, with 20 to 30% new oak. There was no batonnage and no racking until bottling, and the wines were typically bottled after 12 months. Michel Coutoux has said that the oak is always there, but the terroir and the vintage are “what is important to show.” Lucie Coutoux described the 2022 as “a vintage full of freshness and minerality,” picked from 25 August, with natural alcohol of 12.8 to 13.5 degrees across the range.

• Fermentation started in stainless steel; malolactic fermentation and maturation in barrel on lees, 20 to 30% new oak (as of January 2018).
• No batonnage and no racking until bottling; typically bottled after 12 months.

Secondary sources (Tier 2): Burgundy Report domaine reports, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/01-2018/profile-michel-niellon/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/10-2019/michel-niellon-2018/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/10-2020/michel-niellon-2019/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/11-2021/michel-niellon-2020/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/10-2022/michel-niellon-2021/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/09-2023/michel-niellon-2022/; Decanter (Charles Curtis MW), https://www.decanter.com/premium/montrachet-2014-when-is-the-right-time-to-drink-up-554356/ and https://www.decanter.com/premium/top-chassagne-puligny-montrachet-2023-wines-en-primeur-546316/. Last verified 2026-10-14.