Vosne Romanée Domaine Berthaut Gerbet 2021, 75 cl.

Vinification / aging

The grapes are now meticulously sorted so that only very healthy grapes enter the wine press. After a cold maceration of four to six days, the grapes are fermented exclusively on their own yeasts for a fortnight, gently and traditionally in open vats. They are then matured for 15 to 18 months in used barriques and then bottled without fining or filtration. From today's point of view, this is nothing unusual, and yet their wines taste different. This is where something comes into play that is difficult to describe in words: talent and intuition. In an unusually natural way, you can taste the special quality of the grapes in these wines, which Amelie and her husband Nicolas win with great diligence in the vineyard work and then develop with great sensitivity in the cellar into Burgundies of impressive finesse and clarity of aroma.

History

One of the hottest new names in Burgundy at the moment is Amélie Berthaut. Amélie is the daughter of Denis Berthaut and Marie-Andrée Gerbet. She took over from her father for the 2013 vintage, and his vineyards are located in Fixin, north of Gevrey-Chambertin and in neighbouring Gevrey-Chambertin. From her mother, some plots from Vosne-Romanée have been added, all in all a very exciting portfolio of sites. With sites in Gevrey-Chambertin and Vosne-Romanée, Amélie undoubtedly has two of the most renowned names par excellence. However, her vineyards in Fixin are of particular concern to her. Located to the north of Gevrey-Chambertin, they are less well known but, in her opinion, deserve much more attention.  Amélie is already proving this with her Fixin Villages, a fantastic wine, dense in fruit and with a lot of charm, originality and an almost sensational price-pleasure ratio. It is not only the renowned crus from Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny or Vosne-Romanée, but wines like this one, from supposedly weaker sites, that mature into new greatness in the hands of such a talented winemaker as Amélie Berthaut and make Burgundy so exciting today.

Amélie did not enter her parents' winery unprepared. She studied oenology at the renowned University of Bordeaux, together with Mathilde Grivot from Domaine Grivot and Charles Van Canneyt from Domaine Hudelot-Noellat. We asked her why Bordeaux and not Dijon: to see and learn something different, after all, I will be making wine here in Burgundy long enough, she explains to us. Afterwards, she worked in New Zealand and the USA, vinifying Pinot Noir. Then she went to Bandol before finally coming back to Fixin for the 2012 vintage to work here with her father. She took over the management of the domaine for the 2013 vintage. There are 15 hectares in total, for which she is now assisted by her husband, Nicolas Faure. Nicolas previously worked for Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and for Henry Frédéric Roch, the co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. From here he brings important experience in the biodynamic management of vineyards.

Terroir

What distinguishes the wines of Amélie and Nicolas from those of other young winemakers from Burgundy, what makes them so special? Anyone who meets them in person quickly notices that these two young winemakers not only have a sound education and the will to make great wines, but also a great sensitivity and, above all, a modesty. Within a very short time, for example, they have not only convinced their father's long-time employees, all of them seasoned men, of their ideas, but have literally swept them along. In the meantime, all the vineyards are cultivated close to nature or organically.