2020 Chambertin, Armand Rousseau

Cask sample. Slightly brighter colour than the Clos St-Jacques. Tip-of-the-tongue sweetness. Deft and fleet of foot, weightless. Exciting, exotic and luxurious. ~ (18) Matthew Hayes, JancisRobinson.com 1-12-2022

Rousseau's 2020 Chambertin Grand Cru is brilliant, unwinding in the glass with aromas of wild berries, orange rind, plums, exotic spices, Egyptian musk, woodsmoke and rose petals. Full-bodied, velvety and concentrated, it's deep and tightly wound, with striking intensity and energy. Still very primary, even after a year's élevage, it will require patience, but it's a magical Chambertin in the making. ~ (97) William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 1-20-2022

A distinctly cool and exuberantly fresh nose features reticent wonderfully spiced notes of various dark berries along with forest floor nuances that include humus and earth. The intensity of the imposingly broad-shouldered and muscular flavors is borderline painful with impressive power on the hugely long finish that is supported by incredibly dense but quite fine-grained tannins. This is magnificent and a wine of class and grace that will justly vie for wine of the vintage honors when it's time for such assessments. It's extremely rare that I put 30-year initial drinking windows for modern red Burgundies, but my prediction is that this stunningly brilliant wine will age glacially. ~ (99) Allen Meadows, Burghound 1-10-2023