Michel Ampeau in Meursault (photo: Greg Moore)
The story we heard was that Robert Ampeau once turned away a swaggering Michelin three-star chef who arrived unannounced to taste wine. But we'd also heard stories of the five incredible cellars under the rue du Cromin, and that Robert’s son Michel was funny and smart. Meeting the Ampeaus was an epiphany, and the the stories about Robert and Michel Ampeau “holding back the wines until they was ready to drink” weren’t true at all. They simply didn’t care whether or not anyone bought them, as much as they cared about the weather, and the vines, and their annual struggle with nature to produce them.