Domaine Amelie Berthaut Fixin Crais 2017 《Terroir Collection - TF998A》

《Terroir Collection》

Domaine Amelie Berthaut Fixin Crais 2017 《Terroir Collection - TF998A》

Region : Burgundy - Fixin

Grapes : Pinot Noir

Alcohol :  % vol

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

🏅 Wine Advocate 90-92 pts

🏅 Allen Meadows 87-90 pts

🏅 Vinous 91-93 pts

🏅 Wine Advocate 90-92 pts

The 2017 Fixin Les Crais is lovely, wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries, cassis, asphalt and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a lavish attack, a succulent core of expressive fruit and a melting but stony finish. I have a weakness for this cuvée, which is hard to resist in its youth but which ages very dependably—in fact, I still have a few bottles of the 1988 in my cellar that are still bursting with lively fruit.

Amélie Berthaut's emergence as one of Burgundy's rising stars by now needs no reiteration, but the quality of her 2017 portfolio demonstrates that the plaudits she has received are amply justified. Uniting the vineyards of the Domaines Denis Berthaut and François Gerbet, this enterprise now encompasses some 16 hectares, with Amélie's fiancé Nicolas Faure overseeing the vineyards. The Berthaut cuvées, always excellent but decidedly sturdy and structured in their youth, are now suppler and more accessible while retaining the structure to age. The cuvées that hail from the Gerbet vineyards, which were less well farmed, are making tangible progress too, as their soils are worked and chemical treatments are reduced or eliminated—progress evident in the wines' enhanced vitality and completeness, even in the generous 2017 vintage. With a cellar well-stocked with used barrels, Amélie's use of oak is also increasingly judicious. In short, all the stars are aligned at this address, and readers shouldn't hesitate to seek out the wines. And I'll add that it would be a mistake to neglect the superb Fixins at the expense of the grander appellations from Vosne-Romanée.

🏅 Allen Meadows 87-90 pts

A background hint of wood toast easily allows the earthier and even more deeply pitched nose of freshly crushed aromas plum, cassis and newly turned earth. There is better volume and a bit more richness as well to the sappy and fleshy medium-bodied flavors that exude a fine bead of minerality on the youthfully austere finish that unlike the two prior wines, displays no rusticity.

🏅 Vinous 90 pts

The 2017 Fixin Les Crais comes from vines on ancient alluvial soils, in a single parcel of 1.30 hectares with vines aged between 10 and 80 years. Aged in 20% new oak, it has a very pure bouquet with small dark cherries, hints of boysenberry and black olive compote. The palate is medium-bodied with orange-zest-infused red fruit on the entry. Very finely structured, with crisp tannin and a saline note toward the poised, quite persistent finish. A Fixin that does this appellation proud.