View analysis




Description
Tasting notes

Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at The Arches. This is an incredible Chambertin, perhaps one of the greatest wines overseen by Charles. Now at 13-years of age it has embellished that spellbinding bouquet, so luxuriant, almost spicy with pure red cherries, briary, something exotic…Turkish delight? Breathtaking definition and purity. The palate is full-bodied, sensuous in texture, silky smooth filigree tannins that belie the power and the backbone present. Seamless. Just so effortless and refined with amazing focus on the finish. Black plum, cassis and blueberry. Moreover, you realise that this Chambertin has barely started motoring, this is a warm up for what will ultimately follow. Stunning. Drink 2012-2030. Tasted June 2009.

Reviewed by: Neal Martin
A deep garnet core. The nose is incredible: much more weight and depth than the Clos de Beze, ripe blackcurrants and cherries with an unbelievable purity. The palate is so well balanced that you could drink it now although it obviously has the structured to last another 20 years. Again, it is the otherworldly purity that electrifies this mammoth wine. Almost perfect. Tasted July 2003.

Reviewed by: Pierre Rovani
This wine reveals a dark ruby color and mouth-watering aromas of smoked pork, bacon, juicy blackberries, road tar, raw meat, and a hint of eucalyptus. This block-buster is big, broad, dense, concentrated and complete. It is oily textured, full-bodied, and offers sublime layers of candied black raspberries, blueberries, violets, lilies, fresh herbs, Asian spices, leather, stones, smoke, and toast. This formidably structured and profound wine demands patience. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2018. Bravo! As far as the 1996 vintage is concerned, Rousseau's comments were bluntly candid - "the North wind is concentration. It saves a harvest, prevents rot, concentrates color and sugar, concentrates everything we want. 1996 is better than 1990, it may be too early to say, but there, I said it." With that, Rousseau picked up one of the tastevins hanging on the wall (these are the small, wide, shallow, and traditional silver utensils used for tasting. As far as I know he is the only Burgundian who continues to use them on a regular basis), and the tasting began. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel (212) 355-0700.

Reviewed by: Ian D'Agata
A Burgundy of tension and bracing energy, the 1996 Rousseau Chambertin is simply magnificent on this night. Time in the glass brings out the wine's stunning inner sweetness and perfume in what is an utterly glorious expression of Pinot Noir and Chambertin. I imagine the 1996 will still be compelling in 30 years' time. Today is transcendental and deeply beautiful.
About the Producer
Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils was founded in the early 20th century by Armand Rousseau when he was only 18 years old and inherited the vineyard from his father. Armand Rousseau was born into a family of small landowners, and his family members were mostly engaged in wine-related occupations, such as grape farmers, coopers and wine merchants. After Armand married in 1909, he acquired additional vineyards and estate. The property is set around a church built in the 13th century, and the property includes a house, storeroom and wine cellar. When he first entered the wine business, Armand sold wine in bulk to local distributors. After that, Armand successively purchased a batch of new vineyards, such as the plot in Charmes-Chambertin in 1919 and the Clos de la Roche in 1920. The plot, that is, since then, on the advice of Raymond Baudoin (founder of the magazine Revue des Vins de France), Oman decided to bottle and sell its own fine wines, especially for restaurants and wine lovers . Armand Rousseau's wine business is booming, and at the same time he is also expanding the scale of the winery, especially he has also successively purchased many famous vineyards, such as the purchase of Mazy-Chambertin in 1937. Garden, purchased in 1940 Mazoyeres-Chambertin garden (Mazoyeres-Chambertin). At present, the winery has a total vineyard area of 14.1 hectares, of which 2.21 hectares are village-level vineyards, 3.48 hectares are first-class vineyards, and 8.41 hectares are AOC-classified vineyards. The average age of the vines is 40 to 45 years old, the grape variety is 100% Pinot Noir, and the planting density is 11,000 vines per hectare. In 1945, Armand Rousseau's son, Charles Rousseau, joined his father in wine studies after studying wine studies. In 1959, Armand Rousseau tragically passed away in a car accident, and Charlie Rousseau took the responsibilities alone and supported the development of the entire winery. Armand Rousseau has a very amazing language talent, he can communicate with others fluently in English and German, therefore, he decided to vigorously expand the wine export business, the business scope expanded rapidly from the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland to the whole of Europe, followed by Countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. In 1982, Eric Rousseau, the son of Charles Rousseau, injected new vitality into the development of the winery. In terms of vineyard management, Eric has introduced new technologies, such as controlling grape yield and improving fruit quality through green harvesting (Green Harvest) and leaf pruning, and using almost no pesticides or chemicals in the vineyard Substances are used to protect the soil and guide the winery to develop in an organic direction. At the same time, he also respects traditional winemaking techniques and tries his best to reduce manual intervention in the winemaking process. In 2014, Cyrielle Rousseau, Eric's daughter, joined the winery to jointly manage the winery. Seriller learned foreign winemaking techniques and accumulated rich experience in cooperation with wine merchants. With the joint efforts of four generations of the Rousseau family, the quality of the wines produced by Aman Rousseau has been very stable and widely recognized by consumers. The winery produces many grand cru wines, such as Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits, France. Made from the finest Pinot Noir grapes, with fruity aromas of raspberries and cherries, with hints of leather, cinnamon and dark chocolate, the palate reveals ripe red fruit flavours, with a firm and supple mouthfeel with an impressive structure, with a persistent and wonderful finish. It has won over 95 points from well-known wine critics such as Robert Parker Team and Wine Spectator for many years.