From: Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay
Critical Acclaim: This is also moderately reduced and revealing little on the nose. On the palate however there is a heightened sense of energy with a really lovely texture that is more in the camp of finesse and refinement than power, all wrapped in a balanced, beautifully long and understated finale. This is a terrific Meursault villages and very much worth your interest. - Burghound
Vineyard: A small parcel of 80-year-old vines at the base of Charmes. Fichet added drainage in the late 1990s to limit vigor.
Soil:clay-limestone
Viticulture: Viticulture is “lutte raisonée” (reasoned organic). Jean-Philippe aims to know his vines, and to work with them to find a healthy equilibrium. Grapes are hand-harvested.
Vinification: Fermentations take place in barrel and wine goes through malo in barrel.
Aging: 12+ months in barrel (1/6 new), plus 3-6 months in tank
About. Perhaps more than any of his peers, Fichet is testing the limits of transparency, to find the very soul of Meursault’s terroirs. It was Meursault’s destiny to have its soils revealed in this way: their intense stoniness is magnified by an exceptionally low water table, forcing the vines’ roots deep underground. Even if uneconomical, Fichet would rather produce a very small amount of wine from his best sites than to lose their unique character in a blend. Fichet has flown largely under the world’s radar. He began as a grower in 1981 but was forced to rebuild his domaine from scratch in the 1990s, having lost all his best fruit sources—including a piece of Meursault-Perrières—for lack of long-term contracts. But he learned from this experience. By 2000, he had used carefully negotiated long-term fermage and mètayage agreements to create an extraordinary new domaine, brimming with exceptional sites. Fichet’s methods reflect his philosophy: he is famously meticulous and abhors taking short cuts. His low yields, the foremost key to quality, are achieved through severe winter pruning rather than by green harvesting. And he believes his wines’ expressiveness is enhanced through a patient 18-month élevage, with little new oak and by avoiding aggressive lees stirring.
