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Wine Description
The Story
Chambertin – Domaine Armand Rousseau
Chambertin gained a reputation from the patronage of Napoleon I, who is rumoured not to have drunk anything else and watered down his Chambertin with plenty of water. He favoured it at five to six years old and never drank more than half a bottle with a meal. When the ex-Emperor was exiled on St. Helena, he was forced to drink claret, since that was easier to ship to the isolated island.
The Rousseau Domaine was started at the beginning of the 20th century by Armand Rousseau who, at his majority, inherited several plots of vineyards in Gevrey Chambertin. The Domaine premises with the living house, the storing places, the cellars and the winery, are situated in the oldest part of the village, near the 13th century church.
From 1959, after Armand Rousseau's death, Charles Rousseau was at the head of a Domaine of 6 ha which he continued developing rapidly thanks to his great knowledge in oenology, and his experience, by acquiring new vineyards, especially in "Grands Crus" areas. He decided to turn principally towards export, and, after the USA where his father had already starting to sell his wines right after prohibition at the end of the 30's, he developed the exchanges first with Great-Britain, Germany, Switzerland, soon afterwards to all European countries, then to Canada, Australia, New-Zealand, Brazil, etc. and lastly Asia in the 1970’s.
His son Eric joined him at the beginning of the 1980's to take care more especially of the vineyards and the vinification. In 1993, Corinne, Charles's elder daughter, after many years of professional experience in export abroad and in France, came back to the Domaine and in her turn took in charge the commercial relationship with customers.
Domaine Armand Rousseau is the largest landowner of the Chambertin vineyard with a total of 5.3 acres. The 32 acres of Chambertin Grand Cru represent some of the finest and most storied Pinot Noir acreage on the planet and with all producers included typically produces less than 60,000 bottles. Chambertin is the beating heart of the red Grand Crus of the Côte d’Or sitting high on the hillside and bordered by Latricières-Chambertin to the south and Clos-de-Bèze to the north.
Vinification: Grapes are meticulously sorted as they arrive in the winery. Following a cool maceration the must travels by gravity into barrel where it will stay for the entire vinification process lasting typically 18-24 months. Each Armand Rousseau wine is blended unfiltered.
Burgundy writer Clive Coates refers to this Grand Cru as perhaps the finest red wine in the world. Always a tour de force, this wine has uncanny balance. It is very structured, dense, and powerful, it has firm, ripe tannins, yet it is not heavy. It has uncommonly long length on the palate.
Wine Information
The autumn 2006 was extremely sweet with records of temperature, particularly during October and November. From December untill February, except some brief wintry periods, the temperatures were even superior to the normal, making of the winter 2006-2007 one of the most moderate since the beginning of the statements. During this period, despite October, the precipitation were overdrawn from November to January. The quantity of the rain in February was more corresponded to the standard.
From the spring, temperature variations accompanied with rain were felt in March whereas April beat all the records of heat (between 25 and 30 °C), sunshine and drought. Numerous pluvio-stormy passages touched the region in the course of May.
Despite June, the summer has been fresh and particularly rainy.
Further to the exceptionally sweet climatic conditions of the autumn and the winter, the resumption of activity of the vineyard turned out premature. An inflation of buds is noted in the middle of March. The summer heat of April blew up the vegetation which set not far from one month. The “débourrement” was made in the middle of April and new leaves appeared each week showing 2007 as a banner year regarding the level of precocity.
The flowering was engaged during the last decade of May. The rainy passages accompanied with sweet temperatures which succeeded one another from June the10th pulled a fast growing of berries and the closure of the cluster was reached around June the 20th.
Because of the coolness settled until the middle of July, the “véraison” engaged only after July the14th with the passage in little more durable summer conditions. The maturity of grapes knew a slow evolution because of the return of the rainfall and the coolness for the rest of the summer.
The grape harvests, planned initially on August the 20th were delayed to the 31st and took place under a very beautiful climate. A work of very rigorous sorting was made because locally the attacks of botrytis were importants. Therefore, the quantity of harvest felt the effects of it, giving a yield average from 30 to 35hl / ha.
The wine making took place in good conditions: cold pre-fermentation from 4 to 5 days, little reassembly and pigeage. There was not a lot interventions to facilitate fine tannins.
The malolactique fermentation started in December and went on all winter long, ending at the end of April.
2007 vintage is a year of connoisseurs, with more structure and energy, it outstrips the 2006 in quality and aging potential. A beautiful maturity of fruit, spices notes and the density of the vintage make of 2007 a year of immediate pleasure or keeping.
