TN - Berthaut-Gerbet 2017 & Hudelot-Baillet 2013

I had to sit out the Burgfest tasting of 2017 whites last week due to quarantine requirements if I’d travelled to France and back…YAWN… To cheer myself up, I opened these two over the weekend.

Fixin Les Crais 2017 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet
In the glass the colour is a vibrant colour and vibrant is also the word for the perfume of strawberries, rose hips and earth. The stem-derived notes of spice and rose petals are beautifully integrated into the fruit tones. Sweet, crunchy and succulent on the palate, with a lip-smacking freshness. It keeps evolving and popping on the mid-palate and the profile is light-footed and svelte. Really beautifully judged and direct with no sense of effort or artifice.
92/100

Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras 2013 Domaine Hudelot-Baillet
At first I thought the colour was starting to evolve but there’s no brown, it’s just pale. Aromatically it is maturing, with damp earth and that 2013 edginess that’s a little bit briary. With time in the glass, it comes together into a sweet - slightly decaying - and spicy red fruit character. There’s a top note of cherry fruit too. Really good on the palate, with sweetness, bright acidity and a racy quality. There’s a reductive / mineral / smokey edge that’s almost oak but pulls away at just the right moment. Impressive intensity and vigour right through the line. The tannins are present but are very far from being domineering. There’s an inner richness on the finish that plays against a cherry stone sappiness.
93/100


I sort of raised my own eyebrow at my own scores but, on reflection, it was a very successful Cras in line with 93/100 and a totally out-performing Fixin that was just over-brimming with joy and vivacity - to me, it was worth each one of those 92 points. Now to look forward to September’s Burgfest that I actually intend to make.

Cheers,
Matthew

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