Château Micalet

The estate

Micalet has belonged to the small family growers of the Médoc for as long as the books have noticed it. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, added it to the crus artisans of Lamarque in 1886, under J. Péraud, at 10 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). Jean Péraud was a pastry cook, and in 1893 he made about 9,000 liters a year; in 1900 the estate won the diploma of the Grand Prix d’Honneur de Paris for its vintages of 1887 to 1899, and in 1901 it appears for the first time as Château Micalet, at 15 tonneaux. Madeleine Guiet, the owner’s daughter, took it over in 1940. Denis Fédieu bought it in 1972 and enlarged it little by little, and in 1989 he and other growers founded the syndicate of the Crus Artisans du Médoc to speak for family estates like his. His son Damien joined in 1996, when the EARL Fédieu was formed, and Dominique Fédieu in 2007, when Denis and Anne Marie Fédieu retired.

The conversion to organic farming began on 3 hectares in 2004 and spread to the whole vineyard; every wine has been organic since 2009. Treatments of sulfur and copper follow the moon, the ground rests 7 years after vines are pulled up, and the fermentations run on native yeasts. The vines, on deep gravel, are 35 years old on average and picked by hand, and the wine ages 12 months in French oak barrels, 1 third of them new. In the 2023 Château Micalet, Petit Verdot leads: 60%, with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. The estate makes 30,000 to 40,000 bottles a year, among them a Réserve raised in new barrels, first made at the request of a North American client, a Cuvée Origine raised without wood, and a pure Petit Verdot aged 18 months in stainless steel and bottled in lighter glass. Micalet is a Cru Artisan du Médoc in the classification for 2022 to 2026.

At a glance

Appellation

Haut-Médoc

Commune

Cussac-Fort-Médoc

Classification

Cru Artisan du Médoc, vintages 2022 to 2026

Owners

The Fédieu family, since 1972

Direction

Damien and Dominique Fédieu

Ground

Deep gravel

Grapes

The 2023: Petit Verdot 60%, Cabernet Sauvignon 40%

Farming

Organic, the whole vineyard since 2009

Cellar

Picked by hand; native yeasts; 12 months in French oak barrels, 1 third new

Production

30,000 to 40,000 bottles a year

Wines

Château Micalet; Réserve; Cuvée Origine; 100% Petit Verdot

In history

A cru artisan of Lamarque from 1886, 10 tonneaux; Château Micalet in 1901, 15 tonneaux

Sources: Château Micalet · Château Micalet, the history · Château Micalet, the organic work · Château Micalet, the winemaking · Château Micalet, the technical sheets · Crus Artisans du Médoc, Château Micalet · Qualisud, the Crus Artisans du Médoc classification, 2022 to 2026