Text by: Greg Somm
This column is written by The Gold Certified ASI Sommelier, Chef-sommelier of WineHall Company and a MS Diploma Candidate, Greg Somm.
The name Armand Rousseau in the hierarchy of great Burgundy estates occupies the same place as DRC and other historical estates. The history of Burgundy over the last hundred years has shown this very well. But the greatness of this Domaine lies not only in the impeccable quality and level of its wines, but in the history and people. Two main facts about this estate are well known:
1. Armand Rousseau was the winemaker who first stopped selling his wines to merchants and began to bottle all his wines himself. His example at that time motivated many of his colleagues, and this was a significant step contributing to the growth of the quality of Burgundy wine.
2. Armand Rousseau's wines were the first to reach the American market, and impressed the American consumer. The brand positioning was thus formed, and the name of Armand Rousseau was thus equated with the name of the great Chambertin vineyard.
Yesterday we finally managed to gather at the vertical of this wine to experience all its complexity and greatness ourselves. We thought for a long time – which vintages to open and in the end we decided to stop at these (on the photo). There is no particular point in describing each wine now, I want to focus on the style and place my accents.
Young vintages of the current Burgundy are at a fundamentally different level compared to the previous decade. 2020 was fantastically wonderful from the very beginning.
Eric Russo's hot vintages are excellent, and this is confirmed by his 2003, which I drank a couple of times. But 2018 apparently turned out to be completely extraordinary even for Eric. The wine turned out to be very unusual and unusual. Its time has apparently not come yet.
Average vintages give birth to average wines. And storage in their case shows all this even more obviously. The 2014 vintage was good, but not as much as we expected. Storage was not ideal, and by the end the wine began to irritate with its fatigue.
Once again I was convinced that 2012 gave the most ideal wines in their subtlety, complexity and elegance of all 2010 vintages. Ideal wine.
Again the hot 2009 vintage, and again the ideal performance from Eric. Fantastic level!
Forever young, forever closed. 2005 is not the vintage that is worth hunting for and overpaying for.
Well, and a wine that time has no power over. Perfectly preserved, with potential not yet fully revealed. This is 1989. This is why it is worth loving the great wines of Burgundy.
