Domaine Amelie Berthaut Fixin Crais 2016 《Terroir Collection - TF998》

《Terroir Collection》

Domaine Amelie Berthaut Fixin Crais 2016 《Terroir Collection - TF998》

Region : Burgundy - Fixin

Grapes : Pinot Noir

Alcohol :  % vol

Website :https://www.berthaut-gerbet.com/

🏅 James Suckling 98 pts

🏅 Wine Advocate 97 pts

🏅 Wine Spectator 95 pts

🏅 Vinous 93 pts

🏅 Wine Advocate 90-92 pts

The 2016 Fixin Les Crais was taken directly from tank and will include 20% new oak. It has a clean and pure bouquet with raspberry and crushed strawberry notes, a touch of vanilla pod developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, slightly chalky in texture and with plenty of freshness on the finish. This is a step up from the Fixin Village.

Amélie Berthaut is rapidly becoming the most well-known winemaker in the village of Fixin, with the wines under her tenure gaining wide acclaim. That this has been contemporaneous with an expansion of holdings from her mother’s side of the family seems to have elevated her status higher still. With vineyard prices reaching stratospheric levels, it is rare not only to see someone young take over the running of a domaine and take it to a higher level, but to also be blessed with her family’s own vines upon which she can practice her craft. And to be honest, I cannot think of anyone who deserves it more.

Nevertheless, she was not spared the onslaught of the frost in 2016, and I began by asking Amélie about the damage. “In Fixin it depends upon the vineyard. Some were affected up to 70% or 80%. We were lucky because we have so many different vineyards, and we are OK compared to other growers in Marsannay and Chambolle-Musigny. For some vineyards, we thought that the day after the frost it was really bad. As it turned out, the damage was not as severe as we expected. In Les Crais, 80% of the vineyard was frosted, but we lost around 40% to 50% of the average production. It was the oldest vines that found it difficult to grow again. There is no single-vineyard Gevrey Clos des Chezeaux. We started the picking on 26 September, and it was difficult to decide the order to harvest the blocks, and in the end we chose a different order to other years. We finished on 12 October in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits.”

The outstanding wine this vintage was the Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques, a sublime expression of the vineyard that you would think had been crafted by a vigneron with dozens of vintages under their belt. Elsewhere, I admire greatly Amélie's Fixins that continue to demonstrate that this appellation could and should be taken more seriously by cognoscenti, particularly the Les Arvelets. Overall, it is another great vintage for a domaine that has enjoyed such a rapid ascent but is keeping its feet on the ground. Investments have been made in renovating outbuildings and installing some snazzy new concrete vats, but Amélie is taking everything one pace at a time. She already has some great wines under her belt. She will have many more. 

🏅 Allen Meadows 87-90

Here too a subtle backdrop of wood frames the ultra-fresh aromas of both red and dark currants, floral and pungent earth scents. There is a marked contrast between the relatively refined mid-palate mouthfeel to the middle weight flavors that diverge materially from the moderately austere and rustic finale that is notably firmer.

🏅 Vinous 90 pts

(from alluvial soil with more stones, not to mention a cooler combe influence; 30% vendange entier; bottled in December; Berthaut noted that 80% of the buds were lost to frost but a good amount of second-generation grapes ripened, so she only lost 50% of her normal volume): Lovely deep color. Less fruit-driven than the basic village Fixin, showing more mineral and soil tones on the nose. Then plush, spicy and sweet, conveying a rather relaxed quality for a wine made mostly from second-generation grapes. An element of saline, stony minerality adds interest. With its very good mouth coverage and rather fine-grained dusty tannins, this is showing well already but it should offer some aging potential.