Rousseau

Tasting Notes:
The 2005 Charmes-Chambertin (from vines averaging around thirty years of age, two thirds of them in Mazoyere-Chambertin) is decidedly lighter in color and palate weight than its premier cru predecessors. Sweet cherry with jam and caramel suggestions dominate a supple palate, with nuances of toasted almond and licorice. This is all about polish, sweet fruit, and laid-back elegance, but is frankly a bit disappointingly straightforward in consideration of its classification, of the quality standard set by most of its stable mates, and certainly given its price. With Eric Rousseau taking over increasingly from his father Charles, bottling may end up being slightly earlier than in the past, but such routine features as triage exclusively in the vineyards (not the press house), the inclusion of whole clusters and stems, precocious malolactic fermentation (although in 2005 and 2006, at least, Rousseau says he didnÕt force this), reliance on older barrels, and an eventual light plaque filtration for all wines remain as before. Given the long-running success of these Pinots in subtly yet insistently conveying the distinct personalities of their sites and standing the test of time, some might well ask Ùwhy change the recipe?Î while others will wonder whether the wines could be made even better. In any event, nature conspired to hand the new generation a vintage of historic dimensions. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007
Parker Points: 89
Drinking Period:  -

Tasting Notes:
The 2005 Ruchottes Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes, from vines averaging fifty years of age in a Rousseau monopole that makes up nearly one third of this entire appellation, offers ripe, fresh black cherry, sweet spices, black tea, high-toned herbal distillates, musky florality, cedar, game, smoked meat and wood smoke on the nose, and a palate of impressive density that revels in fresh fruit juiciness even as it reveals layers of meat and minerals and leaves you salivating and chewing the air long after it has (reluctantly) been spat. This fascinating wine deserves another showing in ten or a dozen years, but should certainly be worthy of more than two decades bottle maturation, indeed I am sure Charles Rousseau would recommend that you not even peek before then. With Eric Rousseau taking over increasingly from his father Charles, bottling may end up being slightly earlier than in the past, but such routine features as triage exclusively in the vineyards (not the press house), the inclusion of whole clusters and stems, precocious malolactic fermentation (although in 2005 and 2006, at least, Rousseau says he didnÕt force this), reliance on older barrels, and an eventual light plaque filtration for all wines remain as before. Given the long-running success of these Pinots in subtly yet insistently conveying the distinct personalities of their sites and standing the test of time, some might well ask Ùwhy change the recipe?Î while others will wonder whether the wines could be made even better. In any event, nature conspired to hand the new generation a vintage of historic dimensions. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007
Parker Points: 94
Drinking Period:  -

Tasting Notes:
The 2005 Charmes-Chambertin (from vines averaging around thirty years of age, two thirds of them in Mazoyere-Chambertin) is decidedly lighter in color and palate weight than its premier cru predecessors. Sweet cherry with jam and caramel suggestions dominate a supple palate, with nuances of toasted almond and licorice. This is all about polish, sweet fruit, and laid-back elegance, but is frankly a bit disappointingly straightforward in consideration of its classification, of the quality standard set by most of its stable mates, and certainly given its price. With Eric Rousseau taking over increasingly from his father Charles, bottling may end up being slightly earlier than in the past, but such routine features as triage exclusively in the vineyards (not the press house), the inclusion of whole clusters and stems, precocious malolactic fermentation (although in 2005 and 2006, at least, Rousseau says he didnÕt force this), reliance on older barrels, and an eventual light plaque filtration for all wines remain as before. Given the long-running success of these Pinots in subtly yet insistently conveying the distinct personalities of their sites and standing the test of time, some might well ask Ùwhy change the recipe?Î while others will wonder whether the wines could be made even better. In any event, nature conspired to hand the new generation a vintage of historic dimensions. Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007
Parker Points: 89
Drinking Period:  -

Tasting Notes:
This dark ruby-colored wine exhibits a nose of charred oak encrusted with blackberries, cassis, and stones. It has a full-bodied, expansive, highly-defined, complex, and silky-textured personality that possesses black cherries, iron, minerals, gravel, and cassis. This firm and highly structured wine will require cellaring. Projected maturity: 2005-2012. As far as the 1996 vintage is concerned, Rousseau's comments were bluntly candid -
Parker Points: 92-94
Drinking Period: 2005-2012

Tasting Notes:
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 -
Parker Points: 94-96
Drinking Period: 2005-2018

Tasting Notes:
This dark ruby-colored wine exhibits a nose of charred oak encrusted with blackberries, cassis, and stones. It has a full-bodied, expansive, highly-defined, complex, and silky-textured personality that possesses black cherries, iron, minerals, gravel, and cassis. This firm and highly structured wine will require cellaring. Projected maturity: 2005-2012. As far as the 1996 vintage is concerned, Rousseau's comments were bluntly candid -
Parker Points: 92-94
Drinking Period: 2005-2012

Tasting Notes:
This dark ruby-colored wine exhibits a nose of charred oak encrusted with blackberries, cassis, and stones. It has a full-bodied, expansive, highly-defined, complex, and silky-textured personality that possesses black cherries, iron, minerals, gravel, and cassis. This firm and highly structured wine will require cellaring. Projected maturity: 2005-2012. As far as the 1996 vintage is concerned, Rousseau's comments were bluntly candid -
Parker Points: 92-94
Drinking Period: 2005-2012

Tasting Notes:
This dark-colored wine may earn a score at the top of the range, if it gathers some more depth during its elevage. It displays a deep nose of super-sweet black cherries, and a pleasing, seductive, and medium-to-full-bodied character filled with delineated and pure flavors of candied raspberries and cherries. This spicy, silky-textured, expressive, and elegant wine concludes with a long, satiny finish. Projected maturity: 1999-2005. As far as the 1996 vintage is concerned, Rousseau's comments were bluntly candid -
Parker Points: 88-90
Drinking Period: 1999-2005

Tasting Notes:
Dark ruby-colored, the killer Chambertin Clos de Beze floored me with its nose of roses, violets, black cherries and Asian spices. Its sublimely elegant palate impression is intense, complex, chewy, austere, minerally, stony, full-bodied and long. It possesses considerable tannin behind the rich fruit so it should be at its best between 2006 and 2016. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. The Wine Advocate, #111, Jun-97.
Parker Points: 91-94
Drinking Period: 2006-2016

Tasting Notes:
Displaying a bright, dark color and huge aromas of Pinot fruit, smoky oak and rocks, the Chambertin has a massive, deeply spicy, sweet, very thick, super-complex palate with sauteed bacon notes. Tannic, extremely tight and stunning, this backward wine will reach its peak between 2007-2020. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. #The Wine Advocate, #111. The Wine Advocate, #111, Jun-97.
Parker Points: 92-95
Drinking Period: 2007-2020

Tasting Notes:
I felt the Chambertin-Clos de Beze was a knock-out effort. Its saturated dark ruby/purple color is the deepest of all the Rousseau offerings. The tight nose offers promising scents of jammy black fruits, flowers, and spices. The wine possesses great richness, full body (a rarity for a 1993), high tannin, and more than enough flesh, glycerin, and intensity to balance the wine's structural components. This large-scaled, impressively-endowed grand cru needs 5-8 years of cellaring; it should last for 20 years. Baritone-voiced Charles Rousseau's 1993s are successful for the vintage, and softer than I expected given the inclination for the 1993s to be hard and tannic. The Wine Advocate, #100, Aug-95.
Parker Points: 90
Drinking Period: 2000-2015

Tasting Notes:
Rousseau's Chambertin, which is usually a qualitative match for the Clos de Beze, exhibits an attractive nose of smoky oak and red and black fruits. The attack offers plenty of sweet fruit, but the tannin quickly grips the palate and the wine finishes more compactly and with less body and intensity than I would have suspected. Certainly this wine is very good, even excellent, but it will not dazzle Burgundy lovers. It will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring and keep for 12+ years. Baritone-voiced Charles Rousseau's 1993s are successful for the vintage, and softer than I expected given the inclination for the 1993s to be hard and tannic. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700 The Wine Advocate, #100. The Wine Advocate, #100, Aug-95.
Parker Points: 88
Drinking Period: 1997-2007

Tasting Notes:
Rousseau's Chambertin, which is usually a qualitative match for the Clos de Beze, exhibits an attractive nose of smoky oak and red and black fruits. The attack offers plenty of sweet fruit, but the tannin quickly grips the palate and the wine finishes more compactly and with less body and intensity than I would have suspected. Certainly this wine is very good, even excellent, but it will not dazzle Burgundy lovers. It will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring and keep for 12+ years. Baritone-voiced Charles Rousseau's 1993s are successful for the vintage, and softer than I expected given the inclination for the 1993s to be hard and tannic. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700 The Wine Advocate, #100. The Wine Advocate, #100, Aug-95.
Parker Points: 88
Drinking Period: 1997-2007

Tasting Notes:
Rousseau's Chambertin, which is usually a qualitative match for the Clos de Beze, exhibits an attractive nose of smoky oak and red and black fruits. The attack offers plenty of sweet fruit, but the tannin quickly grips the palate and the wine finishes more compactly and with less body and intensity than I would have suspected. Certainly this wine is very good, even excellent, but it will not dazzle Burgundy lovers. It will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring and keep for 12+ years. Baritone-voiced Charles Rousseau's 1993s are successful for the vintage, and softer than I expected given the inclination for the 1993s to be hard and tannic. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700 The Wine Advocate, #100. The Wine Advocate, #100, Aug-95.
Parker Points: 88
Drinking Period: 1997-2007

Tasting Notes:
Rousseau's Chambertin, which is usually a qualitative match for the Clos de Beze, exhibits an attractive nose of smoky oak and red and black fruits. The attack offers plenty of sweet fruit, but the tannin quickly grips the palate and the wine finishes more compactly and with less body and intensity than I would have suspected. Certainly this wine is very good, even excellent, but it will not dazzle Burgundy lovers. It will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring and keep for 12+ years. Baritone-voiced Charles Rousseau's 1993s are successful for the vintage, and softer than I expected given the inclination for the 1993s to be hard and tannic. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700 The Wine Advocate, #100. The Wine Advocate, #100, Aug-95.
Parker Points: 88
Drinking Period: 1997-2007

Tasting Notes:
Both the Chambertin-Clos de Beze and Chambertin are more closed, deeper-colored wines than the outstanding Gevery-Chambertin-Clos St.-Jacques. It is often difficult to pick a favorite, but I thought the Chambertin-Clos de Beze to be lower in acidity and more forward. I would suggest cellaring it for 3-4 years, and I am sure it has at least 15 or more years of aging potential. The nose offers up roasted black-cherry and toasty new oak scents. In the mouth, there is outstanding concentration, full body, and a long, rich, moderately tannic finish. At the top level, Rousseau consistently produces three profound wines - Gevrey-Chambertin-Clos St.-Jacques (as good as most producer's grands crus), Chambertin-Clos de Beze, and Chambertin. That being said, I remain perplexed as to why Rousseau's other wines are so surprisingly light and fluid. While good, sometimes very good, they are markedly inferior to his top three wines. Never one to jump on the bandwagon for forward, super-ripe vintages, (he still believes 1983 is the finest vintage of the eighties), Rousseau is unpersuaded by the acclaim bestowed on 1990. The Wine Advocate, #83, Oct-92.
Parker Points: 90
Drinking Period: 1995-2007