Fixin

13 kilometres/8,08 miles south of Dijon and 30 kilometres/18,64 miles north of Beaune is Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin’s neighbour to the immediate north. Despite having visited Burgundy on several occasions this is very much unknown territory to me. Fixin is one of the oldest villages along the Côte d’Or, with traces back to 830. Since 1860 the commune is a fusion of two villages, Fixin and Fixey. Fixey lies a few hundred metres to the northwest of Fixin.

During the 8^th century Fixin was called Fiscinum and Fiscinus. Its origin is probably Fissi-Vicus, village de combes. There used to be a silk-worm industry here, but already in 1845 all inhabitants were vignerons. And since we are in Burgundy the name of the village is pronounced “Fissin”.

In Fixin you will find Le Musée Noisot, a museum created by Claude Noisot (1787-1861), an officer of Napoléon I’s Imperial Guard, and solely devoted to the French emperor. In Le Parc Noisot you will find a statue of Napoléon by Dijon-born sculptor François Rude – “Le réveil de Napoléon” (1847). The museum is open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, from mid-April to mid-October.

The church in Fixin dates back to 1172 and was reconstructed in 1453. This may seem old enough, but St Antoine’s church in Fixey goes back close to another three centuries. It dates back to 902 and is one of the oldest Roman churches in the region.

There are some 80 ha of Fixin AOC and another 20 ha of Fixin premier cru. Fixin is mainly a red wine village, only around three percent is white. Anyone reading the literature on Burgundy’s wines will notice that the most frequently used description is sauvage, a word referring to the somewhat austere character of the wines. This is not only present in the Fixin wines, but also all the way through the neighbouring Brochon down to the northern parts of Gevrey-Chambertin.

The premier crus are unusually monopolised, for Burgundy that is. Fixin has a total of three premier cru monopoles. Clos de la Perrière (En Suchot and Queue-de-Hareng are included here) is owned by Domaine de la Perrière/Joliet Père & Fils. Clos-du-Chapitre used to be the property of Domaine Marion, but looked after by Domaine Pierre Gelin. It was then sold to Domaine Guy Dufouleur, which in early 2007 signed a contract to supply the new Rodet-Dufouleur Group that was formed when Mercurey-based Antonin Rodet acquired Maison Dufouleur Père et Fils. Clos Napoléon has been the monopole of Domaine Pierre Gelin since May 15, 1954. Before that Charles Millot owned it from 1892 and it was René Cretin who bought it from Claude Noisot in 1860. Noisot had then farmed it for about 40 years. It was origininally known as Aux Cheusots, but the name was changed by Noisot.

A curiosity in Fixin is the mason company Ducherpozat. It has been in the same family for fourteen generations, from father to son since 1590, an achievement included in the Guinness World Records book.

Related reading on Bergman's Bourgogne:
• Interview with Bénigne Joliet – Domaine de la Perrière

• Next village – Brochon
• Previous village – Marsannay-la-Côte

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