Jean-Philippe Fichet

Jean-Philippe’s father bottled a few wines himself but mostly sold in bulk. The Bourgogne Blanc, Meursault Criots, Gruyaches and Puligny-Montrachet Referts come from him; the other wines are on sharecropping agreements with various owners.

Fichet’s big step forward came in 2000, when he moved the whole operation to splendid cellars at ‘Le Creux du Coche’ by the Hôpital de Meursault. Here he has been able to oversee all aspects of vinification and maturation with much greater efficiency. Jean-Philippe has a négociant’s licence to enable him to buy the owners’ part of the wines he makes under the sharecropping system, as well as his brother’s and sister’s vines.

Jean-Philippe is looking for purity in his wines. The only premier cru is the Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts, but my preferences lie with the top three single-vineyard village Meursault bottlings, each with a distinct character. His Gruyaches has the advantage of coming from vines planted in 1928 which still give acceptable yields. It is a solid, well-grounded Meursault. Chevalières has the finest bones of the three and some times sparkles ahead of the complete Tesson, which usually is slightly my favourite with greater mid-palate weight and a sense of balance between the flesh of the wine and the poised acidity. For those on a budget, the Bourgogne Blanc Vieilles Vignes is often spectacular at its level.

White Wines