Mickaël Bourg

Son to a stonemason in Cornas, an early career as a wine mechanic swapped for a life in wine made Mickaël Bourg the first generation vigneron in his family.

Mickaël started his career working with Matthieu Barret at Domaine du Coulet, he later on leased some vines from Matthieu and produced his first Cornas wine in 2006. Today Mika owns 1,5 hectares in Cornas plus 0,5 hectares in Saint-Péray. In Cornas Mika farms famed sites such as Chaillot, Les Mazards and Saint Pierre. In Saint-Péray the main sites are Combe, Biousse and Les Putiers, only Marsanne is grown. Around 60 % of the vines are planted in the 1950’s and the rest between 2004 and 2005. Vines are tended sustainably and completely manually, the vertiginous slopes of Cornas allow nothing else…

Mika applies traditional winemaking techniques; The Syrah ferments with ambient yeast and whole bunches, maceration for about 3 weeks, cap is managed initially with pumping overs which is later on substituted for punching downs. For ageing 4-8 y/o barriques, and 1 used 400-litre cask and 1 used 500-litre cask is used. Ageing goes on for 16-18 months. Whites are pressed with whole bunches, fermented with ambient yeast and then brought up in 4-6 y/o 400-litre casks for 12 months. Wines are bottled with a low amount of sulphur.

These are true “country wines”, genuine and true to their origin. This is a classic in the making, producing very fine wine with more lift the rusticity. Mickaël Bourg’s domaine has become a given stop for those seeking traditional Cornas.