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2015 Red Burgundy Gamechanger: Amélie Berthaut's Fixin Les Crais

2015 Red Burgundy Gamechanger: Amélie Berthaut's Fixin Les Crais

It's not every day that I receive feedback on wines. The predominantly online-only format certainly limits things. Last night I had dinner with a customer visiting San Diego who's enjoyed a wide range of selections from me, but on this evening the first name they brought up was Amélie Berthaut and her 2015 Fixin Les Crais.

As a seasoned Burgundy drinker, they were recently pulled into the magic that Berthaut has brought to Fixin. In 2015 there's opportunity to be floored tonight by it's dark-fruited, juicy, and silken approachability, but this will have many thrilled admirers five years down the road.

We're going to re-visit the offer today, as this knockout will vanish from our importer very soon. Today, I implore you to take a chance on Fixin and Amélie Berthaut! I was also able to coax a few special rare bottles that are only offered to our mailing list here.

During the summer of 2016 I was fortunate to taste at some of the iconic domaines of Burgundy. The one new introduction of the trip that left a giant impression on me was with Amélie Berthaut at her family's domaine in Fixin, just north of Gevrey Chambertin. We tasted some gorgeous 2014's out of bottle, but it was the 2015's in barrel that were the fireworks for me.

It's been a serious waiting game, but today I'm very happy to offer my favorite, and one of the smallest production wines from Amélie, the 2015 Fixin Les Crais, with special pricing on 3-Packs.

Fixin is Pinot Noir territory, and much like the wines from Gevrey Chambertin we see a dark and powerful expression from these rocky, marl-dominant soils. Les Crais is a 1.38 hectare lieu-dit with vines planted as far back as 1946 on extremely rocky and well-drained soils. It's the wine of the lineup that floored me for its concentrated purple fruit character, still with a saline-driven mineral finish - I can't overstate how rare to taste that high-wire act.

Fixin may be known for its brawn and dark earth notes, but Berthaut's 2015's have a sophistication that completely redefines the appellation. Amélie has now bottled four vintages, slowly taking more control of her family's domaine. As you can imagine, her perspective on vinificaton alters from her father's, and she explained the delicate balance in beginning to truly impart her stamp on the wines. 2015 marked a turning point where her style really took hold, and where the critics really took notice.

Les Crais was completely de-stemmed and saw only three punchdowns during fermentation to keep extraction levels low in the robust 2015 vintage. The wine was aged in 35% new French oak. There's a sleekness to Les Crais that I love, while still being the model in expression of terroir.

Today when Fixin is brought up the name Amélie Berthaut is the first to be mentioned. She's very much a part of the new wave of young Burgundian vigneron who favor elegance, low sulphur regimen, and modest application of new oak. Along with her fiancé, Nicolas Faure, Amélie is atop of my list of young stars I know I'm going to be working with for many years to come.

Carved into stone at the domaine are the words, Ien faire vax miev que dir, “Doing right is better than talk.” Amélie may have implemented stylistic shifts at the domaine, but it's this family mentality carrying through her wines that impress me the most.


2015 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet Fixin Les Crais 
$56 per bottle.
Special E-mail 4-Pack Pricing: $209 ($52.25 per bottle)


2015 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet Clos Vougeot 
$237 per bottle.
From a .31 hectare parcel planted in 1956.

2015 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet Vosne Romanée
$89 per bottle.
From a 1.16 hectare parcel planted in 1935, 1949, and 1955. 


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