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THE ESTATE

LE VIGNOBLE D’IGÉ

The Fichet estate, is located in Burgundy in a small village called «Igé», and more precisely in the hamlet Martoret, in the heart of the Mâconnais. From a family of winemakers for several generations, we have found traces of our ancestors including one called «Stéphus FICHET» in the Middle Ages in 1408 who were already working vines, but it was Francis Fichet who took the risk to create his estate by withdrawing from the cooperative cellar of the village, during a wine crisis in 1976.

The estate had about 11Ha of vines, 3/4 of which were Gamay and Pinot Noir, the rest being Chardonnay. Francis Fichet, who had no experience of it, nevertheless quickly knew how to master the primordial stage of the winemaking, his talent asserting itself mainly with the red grape varieties, Gamay and Pinot Noir.

By offering quality wines, Francis Fichet has gained a certain reputation among the wine world. Before his eldest son, Pierre-Yves, went into partnership with him in 1988, Francis Fichet was selling between 45 and 50,000 bottles a year. His brother Olivier joined them in 1990.

Famille FICHET en 1946

Postwar photo of the Fichet family with Marius FICHET (the man with the moustache) and Francis FICHET (middle boy in the front row) in 1946

MARIUS FICHET sur tracteur en 1958

Francis on his first tractor to till the vines in 1958

Le Domaine Fichet était né !

From 1990 to the present, the estate has continued to expand. The Fichet estate now has a vineyard of 30 Ha including 22 Ha Chardonnay, 5 Ha Pinot Noir, 2 Ha Gamay and 1 Ha Aligoté.

We find the different grape varieties on the two hills surrounding the estate. Thus on the hillside exposed South-East (rising sun), with clay-limestone soil, we find mainly Pinot Noir, Gamay, as well as Aligoté, and some new plots of Chardonnay. On the south-west hillside, with chalky clay-limestone soil, we find only Chardonnay.

The estate has always privileged the quality of its wines by highlighting the Terroirs. The first to be highlighted is the Mâcon Igé «Château London» in Chardonnay, in 1978 by Francis. It is one of the most famous places in the Mâconnais. It was at the arrival of the Fils FICHET, that other terroirs were selected for their qualities of soils and exposure. Olivier was able to adapt a vinification to each of his cuvées to extract the best.

cave de tonneaux et foudre du DOMAINE FICHET à Igé en Saône-et-Loire

NOTRE HISTOIRE

QUELQUES DATES IMPORTANTES QUI ONT FAIT L’HISTOIRE DU DOMAINE

a
Stéphus FICHET

1408

Marius Fichet Portrait
Marius FICHET

1950

Environ 10 générations de Fichet de 1408 à 1904

Francis et Christiane FICHET

1976

prennent le risque de créer leur domaine en se retirant de la cave coopérative du village, lors d’une crise des vins.

FRANCIS et CHRISTIANE FICHET
Francis FICHET

2000

prend sa retraite

Pierre-Yves FICHET

1988

Pierre-Yves s’associe avec Francis après une expérience d'électricien.

Pierre-Yves et Olivier FICHET sur dans les vignes 2005
Olivier FICHET

1990

Olivier rejoint son frère et son père dans le domaine.

Nouvelles cuvées

1992

sont nés le Bourgogne Pinot Noir « Le Vignot », ainsi que le Mâcon Villages » La Crépillionne » Chardonnay.

1992 création de la cuvée vignot
Crémant

1996

Création d’une nouvelle cuvée Crémant de Bourgogne Millésimé blanc Brut commercialisée en 2000 pour fêter le passage au nouveau millénaire.

1998

Le Domaine passe de 11ha à 18ha sous l'impulsion de Pierre-Yves et Olivier

lancement de la cuvée LA CRA du Domaine FICHET
LA CRA

1999

Première cuvée haut de gamme en Chardonnay du Domaine sur un terroir exceptionnel

LA FRAISIÈRE

2000

Seconde cuvée haut de gamme du Domaine. Cette fois-ci en Pinot Noir

2000 lancement cuvée La Fraisière
INVESTISSEMENT

2005

Olivier achète un domaine de 5ha de Chardonnay sur le village de Burgy

AGRANDISSEMENT

2006

Agrandissement et modernisation de l’espace commercialisation, stockage et chai à fût de chêne

caveau Domaine FICHET à Igé
RESTRUCTURATION

2010 à 2014

restructuration et valorisation des meilleurs terroirs du Domaine, passant de 25 ha à 30 ha

GRANDE CRA

2014 à 2018

Création d’un terroir en coteau de 45% de pente, jamais exploité pour créer notre cuvée d’Exception : Grand Cra en 2017, Grande Cra en 2018 et enfin Grande Craie en 2019 …

lancement cuvée GRAND CRA et 1969
Cuvée 1969

2019

Création d’une cuvée d’Exception en Gamay limitée à 800 bts

AGRANDISSEMENT

2021

Toutes les plantations nouvelles sont effectuées et le vignoble FICHET atteint 35 ha.

plantations 2021
a

In 2005, Olivier FICHET invested personally in a new Domaine, in the Mâconnais region. This Estate located in the village of Burgy, 10 km north of Igé, is part of the elite of Mâcon Villages in Chardonnay, located in Southern Burgundy. Located next to Cru Viré-Cléssé.

5 hectares of Chardonnay make up this Domaine. And only one cuvée is produced:

A Mâcon-Burgy Chardonnay «Les 3 Terroirs». It is an assemblage of several plots of Chardonnay planted on 3 different terroirs and exposed on a West-North-West hillside, later than the vineyard of Igé, which makes it possible to stagger the harvest in order to obtain very beautiful maturities.

The vineyard of Burgy is worked in the same spirit as that of Igé, with a very strict specifications set up by Olivier, so that one can work in respect of the terroir.
The work of the master of Chai remains at the initiative of Olivier as for the Vignoble d’Igé, the practices are always based on respect for the terroir with a vinification very specific to each cuvée!

Pierre-Yves and Olivier FICHET on La Cra plot overlooking the village of Igé

Pierre-Yves and Olivier FICHET on the plot La Cra overlooking the village of Igé

Following the expansion of the Estate, in 2006, we invested in new buildings: a winery, a barrel cellar, a bottle storage, a tasting cellar, offices, a seminar room, in order to highlight the quality of our work and to develop direct sales in bottles. In this regard, the estate now sells between 180,000 and 200,000 bottles in France and for export (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, etc.).

From 2010 to 2016, Pierre-Yves and Olivier bought again PDO plots in fallow or vineyard, which they restructured with very qualitative Chardonnay with only very beautiful terroirs on Igé.

In 2017, the Domaine’s next objective is a new upscale and to make the most of the great qualitative terroirs!! Certainly the creation of a cuvée “Grand Cra” in Chardonnay, …. To be followed …

In 2019, launch of the 1st Cuvée «GRAND CRA», on our slope of 45% slope (see wine sheet), became «GRANDE CRA» in 2018, following a will of our political bodies because it looks too much like «Grand Cru»! And that’s not all … In 2018 we use “GRANDE CRA” but it is still not satisfactory because this time it is the INAO who accuses us of not using the name of the place-dit in its reality (La Cra) yet well explained on the bottle!! …. So you will discover on the 2019 vintage, from 2022 our cuvée «GRANDE CRAIE» but still high-end, its quality will always be exceptional (as I write, March 2021)!! Little anecdote about our exciting job …

GROWTH OF VINES

TheDomaine FICHET is managed by Pierre-Yves and Olivier, two very perfectionist and authentic brothers, each in their own activity, while being very complementary. Pierre-Yves is responsible for culture. He has, at his charge, all the work of the vineyard, with the precious help of our employees very meticulous in their work. Its aim is to obtain the most ripe grapes possible, and in a perfect state of health.

All this of course generates a great deal of vigilance with regard to the diseases of the vine and the life of the soil. Minimum treatments and tillage – ploughing and grassing – to preserve the nature of the soil and prevent erosion in the hillsides, also encourage root growth in depth to get the best out of the “Terroir”.

Since 2009, Pierre-Yves has been working on some organic* soils:La Cra and la Fraisière.

* 100% tillage of the soil, contribution of biodiversity in the spring (bacteria that promote tillage and the self-protection of the plant.), more precisely «Compost herbal tea», which restores life to the soil + «trichoderma» : microchampignon growing around the roots and thus helps to promote the nutrition of the plant. Pierre-Yves plans to extend the work in organic on other terroirs.

Traditional work is done by hand, and we apply additional mechanical work to increase the quality that is the primary objective. Ploughing and grassing: 1 in 2 rows.

Stripping (only at the level of the grapes on the sunrise or north side) to promote the ripening of the grapes, while avoiding decay naturally. (No chemical anti-spam at Domaine.)

Also, some plots selected for our sumptuous cuvées, are debourgeonnées in spring and if necessary a green harvest is practiced in July, in order to reduce the yield and thus promote the concentration of the remaining grapes and thus improve the quality of the finished wine.

DRIVING IN THE CELLAR

A true relay of his brother in the wine-making process, Olivier has been alone since 1996 in the wine-making process. It must extract from the grapes the character of the terroir, keep the specificity and balance of each plot of vines, and bring out certain «emotions» to the tasters. After several parcels, it is he who decides the order of harvest of the grapes. (Place-dit, grape variety).

For Crémant de Bourgogne cuvées, often the first cuvées collected, because the potential level must not exceed 11° to be able to practice the so-called traditional Champagne method.

Always collected in a box of 25 kg by hand, the harvest is pressurized and put in vats for a traditional fermentation. Then, at the beginning of the following year, the base wine is bottled for second fermentation in the bottle (foam intake = champagne method) and is not marketed for at least 12 months, at Domaine FICHET.

The red grapes, once harvested, are hand-sorted on a carpet and then mechanically destemmed before being put in the tank and cooled to 10-12°C.

2 to 3 days later, depending on the cuvées, the fermentation begins, and the maceration lasts 5 to 10 days before pressing the fermented grapes.

At this stage, colour, round tannins and matter are extracted from the film. The breeding is done either in vats for the Gamay or in barrels for the Pinots Noirs.

Since 2007, we have wineries of the «Ganimede» type* that allow better extraction before fermentation and to obtain beautiful colors with more rounded and melted tannins, but always with a good potential to keep.(*see process on sitewww.ganimede.com)

The white grapes, sent to the cuvage after harvest, are also sorted and destemmed, put in the maceration tank for some cuvées for 24 hours or pressed immediately. 24 to 48 hours after pressing, the grape juice is clear and separated from the deposit (bourbes) to be fermented in vats or barrels. The Domaine is equipped with a temperature control system, and ferments Chardonnays, depending on the cuvées, from 12° to 18°C.

Since 2000, the Estate has selected 1 plot likely to obtain noble rot (Botritis), due to climate and soil. New cuvée picked up in 1 or 2 manual passages by a selection of «Grains nobles», these are pressed very gently and aged 12 to 18 months in barrels to obtain a mellow wine of Chardonnay, surprising and charming. This cuvée is made only for the appropriate vintages, and remains very limited in quantity.

The following spring, and depending on the cuvées, the wines begin to be bottled by us, with a slight filtration before.

All our dry materials are selected with the greatest attention, in order to respect our work. Bottles, natural caps, capsules, cartons, etc. and even the selection of oak barrels for the ageing of Prestiges and Exceptions cuvées …

Below are photos of trees selected in the most beautiful French forests to give the best of our terroirs …