Wine Advisor
Armand Rousseau, Chambertin Grand Cru 2008
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2008 Chambertin is rather delicate and almost ethereal in its seductive personality. This is another surprisingly open, expressive 2008. The tannins are elegant, while the wine’s balance is simply terrific. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2038. I tasted the following wines with Frederic Robert, who works alongside Eric Rousseau. In 2009 Rousseau and his team began picking on September 7, the earliest in Gevrey. For the first time the estate used 20% whole clusters on all the wines except for Clos de la Roche, which was closer to 15%. The 2009s were scheduled to be bottled in April 2011. I also tasted a handful of 2008s that were deeply impressive. Importer: Frederic Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Flint Wine’s 2008 horizontal in London. This has such a beautiful nose: pure crushed strawberry, cranberry and red cherries. Wonderful definition. The palate is lithe and supple on the entry, very well balanced, harmonious with a sensual, seamless finish. Class…pure class. Tasted February 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted out of barrel at the Domaine. The nose is showing a little more clarity on the nose, very floral with wild strawberry, redcurrant, rose petals, a wonderful sense of mineralite, a little more extrovert than the Beze. The palate is medium-bodied with a firmer tannic backbone than the Beze, but again wonderful sense of clarity and precision, a crescendo of flavours than fan out on the finish. Raspberry, strawberry and touches of apricot, blood orange and a hint of apple. Superb length.
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
Cardamom, fresh ginger, licorice, and rose petal alluringly scent Rousseau’s 2008 Chambertin, contributing complexity to a pure seam of ripe dark cherry and raspberry. There is tenderness to the fruit here and a refinement of texture that are not equaled by the other wines in the present collection. Crushed stone, cherry pit, iodine, and peat lend depth to a long, buoyant finish. Cool, clay-rich soils at the southern edge of this appellation explain the frequently enhanced acidity of his Chambertin, says Eric Rousseau, and I wonder to what extent this location also explains the uncanny sense of lift in the present instance. I suspect this will preserve or even enhance its poise and elegance over the next 12-15 years, but I would not wait more than half a dozen before re-visiting and indeed relishing its company. Eric Rousseau did not begin harvesting until September 28, but was finished already on October 4, with – as usual – the entire burden of selection placed on his pickers. The resultant wines prove that, as he puts it “they know what they’re doing” and sorting tables are unnecessary. Grapes came in between around 12% and 13.2%, were virtually all destemmed, and were only lightly chaptalized. Levels of malic acid were however higher even than in 2004, reports Rousseau, who compares the fruit with that of 1996, but does not finger the wines as strong candidates for long-term aging (“long term” – bear in mind – meaning upwards of 20 years in the context of a Rousseau track-record). When I tasted his 2008s in late February, Rousseau was planning to bottle them in March or April, a bit earlier than usual, although several struck me as relatively unformed. But then, his malos had finished by July – not late in terms of the vintage. (Unfortunately, I had only one chance to taste Rousseau 2007s: fleetingly, selectively, at a stage too early to merit reporting on in detail, although the trend was promising and Rousseau is keen on the results.) Importer: Frederic Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700
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.
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