History
Michaud came out of UC Davis in 1979, pointed toward Dick Graff by his classmate Randall Grahm, and hired on at Chalone as assistant winemaker; he became head winemaker in 1983. Soon after arriving he bought a decrepit house on ten hillside acres, lit by kerosene, and that ground became the vineyard. A first try at five acres of own-rooted Chardonnay in 1984 failed (he blames cuttings stored too long); five acres each followed in 1986 and 1988, then about three more in 1990, nearly all own-rooted, the last rows on St. George. He sold the fruit to Chalone until, by his own account, the grape check outgrew his paycheck, the company came to see him as a competitor, and he was fired in 1997 after refusing to trade his position for a consulting contract. His first release was the 1997 estate Chardonnay. In 2016, after Foley Family Wines bought Chalone, he returned next door as consulting winemaker.
The Site
About twenty-nine acres under vine at 1,500 to 1,600 feet in the northwest corner of the Chalone AVA, in the Gabilan Mountains of Monterey County, twelve miles east of Soledad at the foot of Pinnacles National Park; as of 2022 only 18.8 acres were in production, the rest replanted after water scarcity and frost wore down the older vines. The soils are the appellation's signature pairing of decomposed granite and limestone, which Michaud describes as marble cake: fossilized shell deposits worked into the cracks of the granite. The climate is effectively high desert, with average rainfall under ten inches (five in one recent year) and day-to-night swings of forty to sixty degrees. Irrigation water is bought at real cost, twenty-one thousand dollars in one recent year on Michaud's own figure. The whole AVA held just seven vineyards and roughly 360 acres of vines at a 2022 count.
Vines and Blocks
Nine clones of Pinot Noir grow here, combining the old Chalone massal selection carried over from his years next door with Swan and a run of Dijon clones, 115, 667 and 777 among them; Michaud planted them meaning to vinify each separately, found the logistics impractical at his scale, and blends them instead. The Chardonnay is the founding own-rooted planting of 1986 to 1990. The Syrah, Marsanne and Roussanne grow from cuttings given to him by Jean-Louis Chave, who once worked a harvest at Chalone. The Sangiovese is two clones obtained from Marco Cappelli, then at Swanson, an idea Michaud brought home from a stay at Castello di Ama. The old Pinot Blanc is, by his own identification, actually Melon. A 2015 replanting added Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Tempranillo, Barbera and Cabernet Franc.
The Wines
Most of the fruit goes into the Michaud label: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sangiovese, Marsanne, Pinot Blanc and a Pinot Noir, Syrah and Sangiovese blend called 3, made to a stated European brief of balance and moderate alcohol. Samuel Louis Smith bottles a Pinot Noir designate in tiny quantity, two barrels in the 2024 vintage, half whole cluster and native fermented. Absolution Cellars draws several wines from the vineyard, among them an Old Chalone Clone Pinot Noir and a Syrah off the Chave material; David Bruce buys fruit, and LIOCO and Bailiwick both bottled Michaud Pinot Noir designates in earlier vintages.