{"product_id":"jean-philippe-fichet-meursault-meix-sous-le-chateau-2024","title":"Jean Philippe Fichet Meursault Meix Sous le Chateau 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeix Sous le Chateau is not on the hill. It is a clos inside the village of Meursault itself, a steep, west-facing pocket ringed by houses rather than vines, which is close to the opposite of what Burgundy trains you to look for. The great Meursault premier crus face east and southeast and take the morning sun. This one takes the afternoon. Limestone sits higher in the parcel with clay beneath it, and the vines were planted in 1953. A steep west exposure inside a walled town center gives a Meursault that ripens on its own schedule, and Jean-Philippe Fichet describes it as the most buttery wine in his cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChardonnay, hand-harvested, pressed and fermented in barrel, with malolactic finished in barrel as well. Fichet runs a six-year barrel rotation, and only a few of his wines in the strongest years see more than 20% new wood. Batonnage is limited and decided vintage by vintage according to the health of the lees. Elevage runs eighteen months. Roughly 300 cases are made. 2024 was punishing in the Cote de Beaune: rainfall more than half again the norm, downy mildew that attacked the bunches before it ever showed on the leaves, and around fifteen spray passes needed to hold it back. Fichet worked nights and weekends to stay ahead of it and chose to pick late, comparing the season to 1996 and 2007. Citrus pith, white flowers, ginger, a chalky grip, and a finish that runs longer than the weight of the wine suggests it should.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Philippe Fichet is the rare grower who built a Burgundy domaine from almost nothing in the modern era. He started as a grower in 1981, then lost nearly all his best fruit sources in the 1990s, including a piece of Meursault-Perrieres, because he held no long-term contracts. He rebuilt from scratch. By 2000 he had reassembled an estate parcel by parcel through carefully negotiated fermage and metayage agreements, the work of roughly four decades. He farms by lutte raisonnee, refusing chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, and keeps his yields low through severe winter pruning rather than by dropping fruit in summer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHalibut roasted on the bone with brown butter and lemon gives the wine something rich enough to push against without burying its citrus. Chicken poached in white wine with leeks and creme fraiche works on texture, the wine's acidity cutting straight through the sauce. Try a plate of raw oysters with nothing but a squeeze of lemon, where the salinity and the shellfish meet head-on. Or roasted cauliflower with brown butter and capers, browned hard at the edges. This is a Meursault for a long Sunday lunch that no one is in a hurry to leave.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Natural","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51015975043295,"sku":null,"price":130.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8090079.jpg?v=1786310850","url":"https:\/\/danverwinemerchant.com\/products\/jean-philippe-fichet-meursault-meix-sous-le-chateau-2024","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}