Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Amélie Berthaut calls the Arvelets' the cuvée of my grandfather', who purchased the 0.70-hectare site. She has taken extraordinary pains here since hail damage in the final week of June necessitated complicated sorting. However, the wine is a triumph, with concentrated blackberry and mulberry fruit and hints of earth, smoke, and spice. She has fermented half the grapes as whole clusters (where there was no damage), and has been very careful with the extraction to achieve this model of depth and concentration.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Inhabiting the northern reaches of the Côte de Nuits of Burgundy, the Pinot Noir vineyards of Fixin abut Gevrey-Chambertin and produce wines of similar character. The appellation is full of well-reputed Premier Crus that offer some very fine Pinot Noir, even if not quite delivering the exact precision and elegance—nor price tag—of a Gevrey-Chambertin Grand Cru. These are Les Arvelets and Les Hervelets, Clos de la Perrière, Clos Napoléon and Clos du Chapître. A classic Pinot Noir from Fixin will be rich in dark fruit, underbrush and exhibit good structure and minerality.