By Alexandria Rae Cubbage, 5 November 2019

At Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet there is piece of stone that’s part of the house and inscribed with the following which likely best summarizes their philosophy and approach:  ‘Bien faire vax miev que dir.’ This inscription translates to the following:  doing right is better than talk.  This family-owned domaine is based in Fixin and run by father and daughter team of Denis and Amélie Berthaut.  By the 2014 vintage, Amélie’s father passed on the winemaking responsibilities to her, and she is continuing to take on more responsibilities.

The domaine comprises 16 hectares of vineyards in the villages of Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, and Vosne-Romanée.  The vineyards are a combination of those through her father’s family, Domaine Denis Berthaut as well as part of the vineyards from her mother’s side, Domaine François Gerbet.  Her father and mother each managed separate family domaines.  In terms of their farming practices, they use a combination of organic and lutte-raisonnée.

And for winemaking, Amélie uses an increasing percentage of stems which can vary from 0-60% whole bunch.  She ferments in cement tanks.  Then, extraction is delicate with only pumping over at the end of the fermentation when punch downs are done by foot for on average about four times.  Amélie keeps the cellar quite cold and uses low amounts of sulphur.  For the oak regimen, she uses between 0-25% new oak and sometimes more depending on the cuvée; she is still working out what is best for each wine.  The style here seems to be one driven towards improvement and always doing better while also adhering to tradition and being respectful of the terroir and heritage that has been passed down.