2019 Echézeaux Grand Cru

You could say that Amélie Berthaut-Gerbet has a lot on her hands at the moment. Apart from running Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet, essentially a blend of two domaines after holdings from the maternal side of her family were augmented 3-4 years ago, she has overseen the renovation of the winery in Fixin. And apart from being the poster child for the Fixin appellation, an emblem of what it can achieve in the right hands, she’s also a new mother. Thankfully her husband, Nicolas Faure, helps out in the vineyard alongside his own parcels that readers can find in this report. I found her in good spirits, equable as ever.

“I started the harvest on 13 September and picked over the following two weeks, finishing with the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits,” she told me as we settled into her new tasting room. “We used 30 pickers, which is enough for me to follow [the incoming fruit] at reception. It was difficult choosing the right date in order not too have too much sugar. There were a lot of differences in maturity between the cuvées. There is always a difference between what you want to do and what you can do. We use small crates, around 60-litres, so that there is no juice leakage that can happen in larger containers that can crush the berries. These small crates are ideal for sorting the stems [J-L Trapet notes the same.] Because I was pregnant during the fermentation, my senses were not good and so someone had to taste with me. I think the 2019 vintage is fresher [than 2018] with good acidities. The alcohol is as high as 2018 but it is perceived as being less. The maximum is 14.5° for the Fixin Les Crais, which always ripens early. The idea is to have everything bottled by spring so that we can refocus on the vineyards.”

The 2019s showed extremely well, displaying the purity of fruit and terroir expression now synonymous with Berthaut-Gerbet. I was very pleased to see such strong performances in what I consider the heart of her portfolio, the “home” climats in Fixin, attesting the heights that Les Crais, Combe du Roy, Les Arvelets and Les Hervelets. They capture the exuberance and plushness of Marsannay and the breeding and mineralité of Gevrey-Chambertin. Both her Clos de Vougeot and Echézeaux are worthy of those respective Grand Crus, whilst the Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots would match her contemporaries in the village itself (though word of warning, a 2017 opened during my stay was brutally backward, so afford them four to five years in bottle.) Expanded vineyards. Expanded winery. Expanded family. It is remarkable how far Amélie Berthaut-Gerbet has come in such a short time.