Michel Chapoutier

Coming Up

Family succession in the Rhône is a practical transfer of vineyards, cellar decisions, and commercial responsibility. In 1977, Michel Chapoutier took over the family business with Marc Chapoutier / Maison M. Chapoutier in Tain-l'Hermitage, Rhône, France. The handover placed the work inside an existing house and an exacting wine region, where inherited land and daily production had to be managed together. Vineyard and cellar leadership at Chapoutier / Maison M. Chapoutier in Tain-l'Hermitage, Rhône, France became the operating base for Michel Chapoutier’s work. The role required oversight of vineyards and winemaking facilities, with decisions tied to site, harvest, and cellar execution. Today, the craft is carried through his position as owner and winemaker of M. Chapoutier.

Where They Are Now

Single-vineyard Hermitage wines form the clearest craft marker attached to Michel Chapoutier’s name. The current role at Chapoutier connects the family company with a focus on site-specific expression, making individual vineyards central to the identity of the wines rather than background to the brand. Continuity is part of the work, but so is active control: maintaining a house, reading its vineyards, and keeping the winemaking responsive rather than fixed in habit.

Signature

Sélections Parcellaires, Becasses, and La Mordoree are the named signature wines associated with Michel Chapoutier. The set points to a practice organized around selection, identity, and site expression. Sélections Parcellaires states the parcel focus directly; Becasses and La Mordoree carry their own named place within the same house language. The signature is not built around excess handling, but around the winemaker’s judgment in accompanying the wine.

In Their Words “The winemaker is there to accompany winemaking not to do interventionism.” “If I stay still, I fall.”