Fixin ’les Clos’ - Pinot Noir (21) BG

Pinot Noir | één van de noordelijkste cru's van de Côte de Nuits | 1,3 ha | noordkant van de appelatie | clay and limestone | vergisting op tanks van cement en foudre | rijping op eikenhout van 300 liter | max 20% nieuw eikenhout | pure stijl | rijpe expressie van Pinot | dragende zuren | grip en body

Amelie Berthaut

Een van de nieuwe sterren in de Franse Bourgogne is Amelie Berthaut. Na de samensmelting van twee familie Domaines (Berthaut, Fixin & Gerbet, Vosne-Romanée) heeft Amelie maar liefst zestien hectare wijngaard in haar bezit met de volledige focus op Pinot Noir! Ze maakt een heerlijk volle rijke stijl Pinot met diepgang en intensiteit. 

Review

The 2017 Fixin Les Clos 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. William Kelley 91/100