Tasted in Gevrey-Chambertin with Frédéric Robert, 02 December 2016.
Domaine Armand Rousseau
1 Rue de l’Aumônerie
21220 Gevrey-Chambertin
Tel: +33 3 80 34 30 55
www.domaine-rousseau.com
There’s a new dog chez Rousseau, I think it’s Cyrielle’s dog and whilst it’s clearly not an attack dog, it demands attention!
Frédéric on 2016:
“2016 was more challenging than 2015. Everyone was expecting big yields, but of course the frost said ‘no’ in some plots. We lost some villages, though most other plots delivered quality and quantity. But we lost 50-6@% of Chambertin and about one-third of our Clos St.Jacques – we had 19 barrels of Chambertin vs 42 in 2009. But the grapes were a good surprise!”
Frédéric on 2015:
“Picking was a little earlier than a classical vintage. We had about 20% less wine in 2015, due to the extra concentration of the berries. We’re quite proud of the results. It’s quite a new style of vintage here and we really don’t have clear reference point, maybe in 2020!”
The wines…
I love the walk down to the cellar chez Rousseau, I always have the impression that I’m spiraling, corkscrewing, deeper into the earth!
About 20% whole clusters were incorporated for all range in this vintage.
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin
Picked 3-4 September. Seven different lieu-dits assembled.
Bright red fruit with a faint touch of reduction. Pretty red fruit of width and very fine texture on the palate. Elegant and tasty. A little oak in the finish too.
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Lavaux St.Jacques
A deeper nose, more airy, more floral. More textured and more depth, with a lovely extra floral dimension to the fruit. Composed, elegant, layered wine. This is really super!
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cazetiers
Here you can spot some floral notes from the whole-clusters, but its a really inviting perfume. Fresher, a little more muscle – really great texture. Yum! Really great, yet like all the wines so far, a little contemplative – less overtly energetic than many.
2015 Charmes-Chambertin
An aromatic touch of spice here, red fruit below. Cool fruit, of classic 2015 line and growing complexity. Fresh in the finish, denser flavour here, I prefer to palate to the nose today. More structural than usual…
2015 Mazy-Chambertin
Ooh – this is a nice nose! Good volume, fresh, complex high and low tones. Layered, depth of texture and flavour, another slow burner of a wine. But wide and giving. I like this very much. A little tannin then a great finishing flavour. Excellent!
2015 Clos de la Roche
Deep, almost dense, darker fruit, yet never too dense. More line, fresh and lithe, a weight of flavour that holds tenaciously in the finish.
‘Wines from recent vintages are definitely more approachable than was the case, this is climate change, but the age-ability seems unchanged.‘
Big, aromatic, welcoming, I would say gorgeous. Large scaled but complex, lithe, achingly beautiful and complex – gentle even. Great wine. Great length. Bravo!
Wow – open, bright, floral – just a beautiful thing. Narrower in the mouth than the nose. Fine texture, complex, a few mineral hints, a large jump of flavour. This is top wine, probably better than Ruchottes – I felt more emotional involvement with the Ruchottes and the length might be more questionable here – but undoubtedly great wine!
A cushioned, wide and deep nose, slowly increasing in size with some floral reflection. Great scale in the mouth and concentrated without any brutality. This is a ‘whole’ rather than a wine of waves. Contemplation and dynamism today. So, so long…
Both used 100% new oak. ‘The oak not completely integrated in the beze yet…’
This nose has less weight of depth but then is more open above – subtly perfumed but no bravado today. Larger scaled, more structure showing, a little more tannin – in all respects a little larger and with more energy vs the last. Power in a velvet glove. Just a pleasure here.