2008 - Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru Clos des Ruchottes, Armand Rousseau

The 2008 Ruchottes-Chambertin is totally fabulous. The wine literally explodes from the glass with layers of berries, flowers and spices. The Ruchottes shows marvelous inner sweetness and considerable vibrancy. This is a head spinning wine from Rousseau. 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

The 2008 Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes Grand Cru is the best of three Rousseau wines tasted from this vintage. It has a well-defined, stony, slightly austere bouquet, but there is more ripeness than either the Charmes-Chambertin or Clos de la Roche. Wild cherries and freshly tilled loam. The palate is medium-bodied with pleasant sweetness on the slightly piquant entry. There is plenty of sous-bois character present, a pinch of cracked black pepper with just about sufficient depth on the finish. Drink this sooner rather than later.