In 2016, I had the pleasure of visiting with Amélie Berthaut at her family's small domaine in Fixin. It marked a rare moment where I understood the obscurity of this vigneron was going to change at a pace as I've never witnessed before.

Today, I'm happy to offer the 2017 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet Fixin Les Crais.

Berthaut's Clos Vougeot, Petits Monts, and Suchots are well worth your attention, but another value play (relatively speaking here) is with Amélie's Fixin Les Crais. William Kelley of The Wine Advocate captures what's so special from this lieu-dit:

"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."

On another note, if you want to see what under-$50 Red Burgundy superstar cuvées perform like, the 2017 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet Bourgogne Hautes Côte de Nuits for $41 per bottle is your shot. I revisited this bottle after being reawakened to the brilliance of this Fixin producer during our value Red Burgundy seminar in Temecula last year. It's rare that a producer's most entry-level wine would not only drink well on night three, but the reason this modest red Burgundy thrilled me so much is that it still delivered the same delineation and focus I've come to expect from the highest order of appellations.

Carved into stone at the domaine are the words, Ien faire vax miev que dir: “Doing right is better than talk.” Amélie proved again in 2017 her soft-spoken nature and serious commitment to viticulture informs everything that's come to be realized in bottle. This lineup is not to be missed.