Catharina Sadde trained as a chef in Michelin-starred German kitchens before her path bent toward wine. Wine degrees from Geisenheim and Montpellier SupAgro came first, then a résumé that reads like a tour of Burgundy's most singular addresses: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Comte Armand, Marquis d'Angerville, Cécile Tremblay, Drouhin, de Vogüé. In 2019, she and her husband Guilhem launched Les Horées from a rented cellar in Pommard, naming the project after the Greek goddesses of the seasons. The domaine now spans 1.5 hectares of biodynamically farmed vines around Beaune, supplemented by parcels she works herself on long-term arrangements with neighbors. Whole clusters are used liberally, sulfur sparingly, and the cellar work follows instinct rather than a fixed playbook.

Les Fichots is one of Pernand-Vergelesses's premier crus, sitting in the shadow of the Corton hill on limestone soils that the climat shares with its more famous neighbor. Unlike most of the appellation's slope-side parcels, Fichots is nearly flat, tucked at the valley floor between Pernand and Aloxe-Corton. The orientation is northeast and cool, which makes the site a late ripener — a useful trait in a warming Burgundy. Catharina has farmed this parcel herself since 2022. The vines are plowed by horse, and the work is organic and biodynamic in practice.

The wine sees between half and four-fifths whole clusters, indigenous yeast fermentation in stainless steel without added sulfur, and ten to twelve months in used barrels. The 2024 vintage cut yields hard across Burgundy, but the Côte de Beaune fared better than the Côte de Nuits. What came through shows remarkable precision. Expect notes of red cherry, raspberry, blood orange peel, crushed thyme, and a flicker of iron and warm stone. The tannins are fine, the finish is long, and the cooler fruit sets Pernand apart from the appellations to its south.