1993 | Domaine Armand Rousseau | Chambertin

It has an understated bouquet at first with comely raspberry and crushed strawberry aromas, black truffle and ceps, a little earthy but quintessentially Chambertin. The palate is medium-bodied with beguiling balance, tobacco infusing the fruit that is blacker than I remember, fanning out in a stately measured fashion towards the finish.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: It has been four years since I last tasted the Chambertin from Rousseau and if anything, the wine has continued to improve since then. The bouquet is more feminine and mannered than the Clos-de-Beze with scents of wild strawberry, raspberry, hints of wild mushroom and truffle that gain more and more intensity the longer it remains in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied but delivers a crescendo of flavors: raspberry preserve, Cepes, hints of tobacco and dried herbs. It fans out gloriously like a huge wave breaking upon a shoreline, and the persistency is the best of the three Rousseau ’93 tasted alongside. While it is not as magisterial as the 1996, it has both class and something slightly feral and rustic.

• Burghound: This is now displaying hints of bricking. A perfumed if distinctly cool nose displays somewhat reticent secondary black fruit and earth aromas that are nuanced by notes of spice, earth and a touch of the sauvage. The equally restrained, pure and powerful flavors are extremely rich, indeed the palate impression is borderline massive yet the driving and hugely long finish is impeccably well-balanced. This big-bodied and robust effort possesses a discreet mid-palate sweetness that largely buffers the subtle finishing austerity that is so typical of the '93 vintage. For my taste, this bad boy of a Chambertin has finally arrived at its peak though it should be capable of holding at this level for years, perhaps even decades, to come. The '93 Rousseau Chambertin isn't the best the domaine has ever made but it's one that I like enormously, perhaps because I have been fortunate to have had it so many times over the years that I have watched it grow up as it were. Multiple, and remarkably consistent, notes, in fact putting a few corked examples aside, I don't ever recall having a poor bottle.

Producer Information

Domaine Armand Rousseau is a highly regarded and critically lauded wine producer based in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, in the northern Côte de Nuits. Arguably iconic in status, Armand Rousseau is one of Burgundy's oldest and most revered family-run domaines. It holds many grand cru plots in Gevrey-Chambertin as well as part of the much sought-after premier cru vineyard Clos Saint-Jacques. Founded at the start of the 20th Century by Gevrey native Armand Rousseau, the domaine initially owned small plots of vines throughout Gevrey-Chambertin. Over the next 100 years under both Armand Rousseau and his son Charles, who took over after the death of his father in 1959, the Domaine acquired various grand cru vineyards in Charmes-, Mazis- (labeled "Mazy" by the domaine) and Mazoyères-Chambertin, culminating in a plot in Le Chambertin itself in 1994. Today, the winery and vineyard are run by Charles' son Eric and Eric's daughter Cyrielle Rousseau. The domaine has just over 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres) in Le Chambertin with 1.4 hectares (3.4 acres) in the Clos-de-Bèze section. As well as half a hectare in Mazis-Chambertin, one hectare/2.5 acres in Ruchottes (Clos des Ruchottes) and and nearly 1.4 hectares in Charmes-Chambertin, Rousseau also produces a Clos de la Roche from its 1.5 hectare (3.7 acre) holding in the acclaimed Morey-Saint-Denis appellation just south of Gevrey. Premier cru plots in the portfolio include 2.2 hectares (5.4 acres) in the Clos Saint-Jacques, 0.6 hectares (1.5) in Les Cazetiers and just under half a hectare (1.3 acres) in Lavaut Saint-Jacques. Armand Rousseau also farms 2.2 hectares of village-level Gevrey-Chambertin. Typically Burgundian, these wines are built to last. Old vines and careful winemaking to allow for the expression of the terroir makes for elegant, pure wines with red and black fruit aromas. Oak is used sparingly.

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