Fixin 2019
Directly outside the town of Dijon, the Fixin vineyard, just north of Gevrey-Chambertin, opens the gateway to the Côte de Nuits.
Origin
With a hundred hectares under vine (including approximately twenty hectares of Premiers Crus), Fixin is one of the smallest wine-producing villages though it boasts two A0Cs: Fixin and Côte de Nuits Villages. Twenty years ago, 80% of the wines produced in the commune were sold as Côte de Nuits Villages. This is why this village is not very well known, however, its wines are worth discovering.
Production is largely of reds with 96.21 ha of Pinot Noir but there are some plots of Chardonnay which represent only 5.92 ha. Suffice to say that white Fixin is a real rarity. Our wine comes from a plot called La Sorgentière.
Viticulture
Grape variety: chardonnay
Soils: limestone and marly.
Orientation: East.
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 32 hL/ha
Average age of the vine: 40 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 16 September 2019.
The grapes were handpicked.
At the winery: The whole bunches of grapes were gently pressed for 2½ hours. The temperature of the must was brought down to 12°C then was immediately transferred to 450L barrels (demi-muid) with no settling to preserve a maximum of lees. Very long fermentation using indigenous yeasts without stirring or racking for more complexity and freshness.
Ageing
Maturation: aged for 17 months with no racking or stirring to bring out all of this wine’s minerality. 40% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: Oak of French origin toasted at low temperatures for a long time to impart a subtle, delicate touch of oak were used.
Bottling
Bottling: The wine was not fined but was very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity in April 2021.
Number of bottles: 1,488.
Vintage
A legendary vintages?
According to Grégory Patriat, this second harvest at the Ursulines winery will go down as a legendary vintage just like 1969, 1979, 1999, 2009, and 2019, because the concentration in the wines is very high indeed. Years with drought and low yields are always great vintages in Burgundy. We had some new premier crus come online last year, with three in Chambolle-Musigny, one in Gevrey-Chambertin, and one in Nuits-Saint-Georges; Le Clos des Argillères. Furthermore, we revived our tradition of producing white wines in villages better known for their reds, with a white Fixin.
Ageing potential: from 5 to 8 years.
Tasting notes
With its beautiful pale yellow color, this wine develops intense aromas of white fruits mixed with almonds and spicy notes. Its palate surprises with its freshness and fatness. A serious wine with an almost tannic finish.
