From: Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay
Taste & Critical Acclaim: Pale lemon. A delicious mineral nose, even if less evident these days when the grapes are riper. Indeed generous ripe fruit comes up behind. Enough tension, and a graceful, detailed hillside finish. Softer right at the finish, Drink from 2028-2036. Tasted: October 2023.
For contrast, here’s Jasper Morris’ tasting note for the 2021 vintage of Fichet Meursault les Chevalieres. Pale colour with quite a strict nose. Pure white fruit, with plenty at the front of the palate, but does not kick on quite so much behind. Even so, good persistence and the style of the vineyard remains on show. Drink from 2026-2031. Tasted: October 2022.
Pairing: This focused, precise, and tension-filled Meursault plays well with dishes like roast chicken or turkey, veal, rabbit in mustard sauce (or check out the recipe we’re sharing below for roasted rabbit with olives and feta), grilled or sautéed shrimp, white fish like cod or sea bass, and even smoked trout or salmon. Lemony shrimp and bean stew, halibut with brown butter, lemon, and sage, seared halibut with anchovies, capers, and garlic, or monkfish with caper butter are some delish pairing ideas to get you started. Other examples include sheet-pan tarragon chicken with onions, Hainanese chicken and rice, or sheet-pan chicken with apple, fennel, and onion.
Roasted Rabbit With Olives and Feta
By Melissa Clark
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.
