Wine Advisor
Emmanuel Rouget, Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Cros Parantoux 2008
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Full medium ruby. Superripe aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate, peony, Oriental spices and new oak. Dense, chewy and tactile; very primary, crunchy fruit flavors of raspberry and black cherry are a bit clenched today but not aggressive. Finishes very long and powerful, with serious wood tannins that will require a good decade of patience. Rouget's fermentations in 2008 took place at cool temperature, but the wines spent up to 26 days on their skins.
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
“The 2008 Vosne-Romanee Cros Parantoux,” reports Rouget, “finished its malo at the beginning of February, the same time as the 2009!” For that reason, I tasted it still on its fine lees, having never been racked or sulfured. (“Not that I’m one of these ‘bio-’ low-sulfur people,” he hastened to add.) Lily-like, decadent floral perfume, cassis, framboise, holly berry, and mint hover spirituously over the glass. Vanilla and resin hints for the (100%) new wood mingle with liqueur-like black fruits as well as pungently invigorating red currant and dried cranberry. Here is the vibratory, interactive intensity and complexity one derives from the best young wines of its vintage, with chalk, stone, salt, and iodine all serving to set-off the wine’s candied yet acidulated fruit character. This should intrigue and delight for a dozen or more years. I tasted Emmanuel Rouget’s 2008s from barrel in April and he was planning to bottle them within a month. According to one of Rouget’s favorite descriptors, the vintage was “tres particulaire,” not to mention challenging. “I harvested at an average of 12%” potential alcohol, he reports, “and chaptalized less than a degree. That sufficed. It was more important to harvest while there was still good weather and besides, it was already cold. There was a lot of acidity, but that conveys a superb equilibrium and level of freshness. The wines really exhibit the plenitude of Pinot.” Rouget rejects what he acknowledges is a widespread comparison of 2008 with 1996, suggesting that the latter “was more marked by sunshine, and resulted in less-noticeable acidity.” (As noted in the introduction to this report, he compares 2008 with 1986.) Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400
About the Producer
Domaine Emmanuel Rouget, located in the village of Flagey-Echezeaux in the Cote de Nuits in Burgundy, France, was founded in 1985 and is a world-renowned winery. The history of Château Emmanuel Rouget can only be told by the famous winemaker Henri Jayer, the aunt of the owner Emmanuel Rouget. Already in the early 1980s, Henri was one of Burgundy's most legendary winemakers, influencing a younger generation of winemakers in Burgundy and indeed around the world. In 2001, Henri retired and Emmanuel took over all the vineyards under his name. Nicolas is responsible for the vineyards and Guillaume Rouget for the winery. Château Emmanuel Rouget is located in Vosne-Romanee, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru and Echezeaux Grand Cru, as well as in the villages of Cote de Nuits and Côtes du Nuit. Villages and Savigny-les-Beaune in the Cote de Beaune. The most famous vineyard is Cros Parantoux, created by Henri. In 1970, Henri bought his last parcel of land from Cros Parantoux, bringing the total size of his parcel to 0.72 hectares. Today, Emma Laure inherits the complete 0.72 hectares of vineyards. In terms of viticulture, Château Emmanuel Rouge has always adhered to a philosophy of respect for nature, using organic methods of cultivation and eliminating the use of any pesticides or weed killers. Emma Laure has inherited the winemaking methods of her aunt Henri. For example, the grapes are destemmed and fermented in concrete fermenters, as Henri did, and the resulting wine is then matured in oak barrels for 20 months or more before being bottled. The wines produced at Château Emaraur Rouge range from Regional to Grand Cru, with Pinot Noir as the main grape, but also Chardonnay, Carmenere and Aligote to a lesser extent. Many of the Premier Cru wines are of Grand Cru quality and are often hard to find because of their small quantity and quality. The wines from the Premier Cru Baranto are often sold at Sotheby's.
