This is one of Burgundy’s greatest Domaines in terms of history, vineyard holdings and quality of wine.
Armand Rousseau born Born in 1884 to a family deeply entrenched in the wine trade, inherited several plots and the current domaine building, one of the oldest in Gevrey-Chambertin, as part of his wedding in 1909. After acquiring more plots in Charmes-Chambertin, Clos de la Roche and Chambertin in the late 1910s and 1920s, the domaine became one of the first in Burgundy to bottle his own wine. Rousseau’s wines were also amongst the first to hit the shores of the United States after the Prohibition, and his focus on exporting his wine is shared by his son Charles, who took over the reins in 1959 after Armand was unfortunately killed in a car accident.
Today Eric, grandson of Armand, is in charge of the vines and cellar, with the help of his daughter Cyrielle, great-granddaughter of Armand Rousseau, is now the third generation of Rousseau.
The domaine has a new cuverie which, not coincidentally, closely resembles that of Domaine Dujac, as both were designed by the same architect. The vineyards Gevrey Chambertin Village Domaine Rousseau owns 9 vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin, 7 of which are used in its Village appellation. Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers Les Cazetiers vineyard lies just over the wall from the famous Clos Saint Jacques. Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacques A statue of Saint Jacques was unearthed in this vineyard, which was then dedicated to the saint. It now boasts chapel that lies on one of the many pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. The vineyard is divided into five vertical strips belonging to five different domains. Domaine Rousseau owns one third of the total area of the Clos.The Clos Saint Jacques is implicitly recognised as a Grand Cru, but was overlooked at the time of the official AOC Grand Cru classification; it belonged to the Comte de Moucheron, a fervent royalist who refused to allow his land to become part of the Republican classification system.
The late June 2022 storm that provided water for the subsequent dry summer hit Gevrey very hard, and there was flooding in the lower cellar at Rousseau, as well as quite a bit of soil (200 tons!) that slid down the Clos Saint-Jacques slope and had to be brought back up. There was also June hail in Lavaux Saint-Jacques, Clos Saint-Jacques, and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze that had the effect of limiting the crop in those vineyards but did not effect the quality of the fruit harvested. Otherwise, the dry summer worked well here as elsewhere. Harvesting began on 31 August and lasted eight to ten days (two hails limited the amount of picking). Most of the wines are at 13.5º alcohol, but two are at 14º.
Pair it with- Good company
