Why it matters
The producer
Henri Michaut founded Domaine De La Motte in 1960. His grandson Adrien Michaut is the current winemaker, giving the estate a direct family line from its first generation to the cellar today. The domaine is HVE Level 3 certified and covers 53 hectares of vineyards, a substantial holding for a family estate in Chablis.
Adrien's stated aim is expressive Chablis with roundness and balance. The wines described here follow that brief closely. Fruit and flowers open the nose, while the palate carries a more linear mineral character, broad fruit and persistent acidity. The contrast keeps the wines generous without losing their Chablis shape.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Beine lies in the Yonne, on the left bank of the Serein, within the Bourgogne region. Chablis names the appellation on the bottles, while Vieilles Vignes identifies the old-vine cuvée. The address places the wines in the northern Burgundy landscape, and the glass carries that place through mineral character, citrus freshness and a palate that narrows after its initial breadth.
The estate's range includes several Chablis cuvées, but the documented wines are not presented through a full hierarchy of named parcels or cru designations. Domaine De La Motte is therefore easiest to approach through the relationship between its broad holding, its family cellar and the old-vine Chablis bottle.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The 53 hectare vineyard holding gives Domaine De La Motte a broad base for Chablis production, while HVE Level 3 certification records the estate's environmental farming standard. The Vieilles Vignes cuvée narrows that holding to grapes from vines averaging more than 50 years old, bringing extra flavour, length and complexity into the finished wine.
A small amount of oak influence contributes texture to the cuvée. It appears alongside mineral flavour and acidity, so the wine carries a rounded middle without losing its fresh line. The cellar work is felt as a meeting of texture and freshness, not as a separate oak flavour layered over the fruit.
Wines to know
The range in view
Chablis Vieilles Vignes is the range's old-vine cuvée, made from vines averaging more than 50 years old. Its aromatic register moves from green lemon and grapefruit to acacia, lily of the valley, hawthorn and honey. That spread gives the wine both citrus lift and a softer floral sweetness in the nose.
The palate shifts the emphasis. Ripe fruit and herbs give way to a broad, round and concentrated centre, with mineral character adding freshness and acidity carrying the wine through the finish. Fine oak influence contributes texture, while the old vines bring mouth-watering length, flavour and complexity. The cuvée therefore occupies a distinctive place within the estate's Chablis range, combining expressive aromatics with a more linear palate.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Chablis Vieilles Vignes. It brings together the estate's most legible details: grapes from vines averaging more than 50 years old, a small amount of oak for texture, broad fruit, mineral flavour and acidity that holds the wine fresh. In the glass, expect green lemon, grapefruit, white flowers and honey before a round palate tightens into a mineral, mouth-watering finish.