Bewitching Burgundy: the wines of Armand Rousseau

Domaine Armand Rousseau is one of the pre-eminent producers of Burgundy, and was also the best-performing Burgundy producer at Christie’s last year. The Grand Cru wines from this estate show incredible power, poise and precision.

Armand Rousseau (1884-1959) was a leading light in the Côte de Nuits, and among the first Burgundy vintners to bottle his own wines and sell them to the United States when Prohibition came to an end. After first inheriting several plots of Gevrey-Chambertin in 1902 at the tender age of 18, he acquired further vineyards, as well as the current Domaine premises, through marriage in 1909.

Having begun to buy up neighbouring plots in 1919, between the 1930s and the 1950s Armand acquired as many vineyards as possible to boost his portfolio further: a plot of Mazis-Chambertin in 1937; in 1940 Mazoyeres-Chambertin (today labelled Charmes) and two plots of Chambertin. In 1954 he bought a plot of Geverey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques from Comte de Moucheron, and finally a plot of Chambertin Clos de Bèze.

Charles Rousseau takes the reins

Armand’s untimely death in a car accident in 1959 left his son Charles (1923-2016) in charge. Charles, who had trained as a lawyer and was fluent in both English and German, took advantage of the advent of commercial air travel to promote Domaine Rousseau around the world. He began to export his wines to the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland; by the 1970s, people across Europe, Canada, Australasia and Asia were able to enjoy his finely structured wines.

Back home among the vines, Charles continued his father’s streak of vineyard acquisitions, with a further plot of Chambertin Clos de Bèze and the famed monopole of Clos des Ruchottes.

In 1982, Charles’s son Eric came on board and introduced new techniques such as such as green harvesting, leaf-thinning and mechanical working of the soil without the use of insecticides or chemical additives. Armed with degrees in geology and viticulture, Eric’s daughter Cyrielle joined her father to co-manage the estate in 2014, and together they maintained the family tradition of harvesting terroir-driven Pinot Noir.

Chambertin Clos de Bèze

This is a wine of monastic heritage. In the 7th century, the Duke of Southern Burgundy gifted lands to the Abbey of Bèze for agricultural use. The monks, being partial to a sip of wine after prayers, opted to continue the Roman practice of plantings vines. They sectioned off a field for this purpose, and named it the Clos de Bèze.

Some six centuries later, a man named Bertin was fortunate enough to enjoy a taste of the monks’ delicately crafted wine, and was suitably impressed. He purchased the field (champ  in French) next to the Abbey, and planted his own vines. His vineyard became known as Champs de Bertin (Bertin’s field), which the locals quickly shortened to Chambertin.

Sitting over the road, the monks realised the quality of the liquid in Bertin’s goblet, and decided to append their own vineyard with his name in order to ride on his success. And so Chambertin Clos de Bèze was born, through the combination of a wine lover’s enterprise and the subsequent jealousy of the monks who had initially inspired him.

Charles Ryder in Brideshead Revisited  drinks a Chambertin Clos de Bèze with Rex Mottram and describes it as ‘serene and triumphant, a reminder that the world was an older and better place than Rex knew’. It is a perfumed and delicate wine, with greater alcohol than Chambertin, thanks to its being a warm site.

Chambertin

Bertin’s field itself is a limestone-over-gravel vineyard to the south of Clos de Bèze, and it benefits from breezes from the Combe Grisard, cooling the fruit. Armand Rousseau bought his first plot in 1920, and Charles added to this with plot purchases in 1956, 1970, 1983 and 1994. The estate now own 2.56 hectares.

This majestic Grand Cru is aged in 100 per cent new French oak, which adds depth and concentration to a wine that gains grace and elegance from the limestone soils and cool fruit. Abbé Claude Arnoux, another wine-loving monk, published his tome on the wines of Burgundy in 1723. He describes Chambertin as ‘the most considerable wine in all of Burgundy’. This epithet has survived the centuries to make Chambertin one of the most in-demand wines in the world, released on allocation from the estate, and feverishly fought over in auction rooms.

Charmes-Chambertin

Fragrance and florality are the defining qualities of Charmes-Chambertin. The Grand Cru is down the hill from its famous brother, Chambertin. The name is derived from chaume, meaning thatch, often found in abandoned fields in the medieval period. Rousseau cultivates from 1.37 hectares, and its Charmes is among the best from this vineyard, with delicate fruit, spicy flair and the potential to unfurl into undergrowth complexity as bottles age.

Clos des Ruchottes

Rousseau has owned the upper part of the Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru since 1976, as a walled monopole. The name is a corruption of rochots (little rocks), referring to the pebbly, infertile soil. This vineyard has beautiful exposure to the sun, and the wines are usually lightly coloured, piquant and silkily textured.

Mazy-Chambertin

North of Clos de Bèze is the Grand Cru of Mazy-Chambertin. Rousseau farms a tiny 0.53 hectare plot and produces Pinot Noir known for structure from firm tannins and ripe fruit. The label’s monastic calligraphy is wonderfully Gothic.

Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques

The pilgrims’ route to Santiago de Compostela passed through Burgundy, and a statue of Saint Jacques at this vineyard denotes its religious heritage. Although it is a Premier Cru vineyard on paper, the wines are generally considered to be of Grand Cru quality.

The original owner of the plot, the Comte de Moucheron, was famed for being dismissive of meetings, and when the Grand Cru vineyards were being mapped, he chose to smoke a cigarette outside. Perhaps this explains why the vineyard never gained its paper accreditation as Grand Cru. Rousseau now owns a large 2.22 hectare section, and produces weighted, potent Pinot Noir here.

Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint Jacques

This cool Premier Cru plot is the last to be picked in order to gain extra ripeness in the harvest. Rousseau has a 0.47 hectare plot.

Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers

This light-coloured Premier Cru is from one of the most elevated sites in the whole of Burgundy, with its top edge reaching 370 metres above sea level. The wines are delicate and fine-boned, with redcurrant and raspberry notes.

Gevrey-Chambertin

Village Gevrey-Chambertin from Rousseau is a beautiful introduction to the estate. Picked first from the bottom of the slopes, the wine is blended from several plots and always presents a lovely, sweet red-berry-fruit style.

Clos de la Roche

South of the appellation of Gevrey-Chambertin is Morey Saint Denis, where the famous Grand Cru of Clos de la Roche is located. Legend has it that the name is derived from a huge rock that overhangs the vineyard, said to have been used as a druids’ sacrificial stone.

Rousseau farms from a 1.48 hectare plot, making Pinot Noir of density and sublime aromatics. Nutmeg and musk are often associated with Clos de la Roche, and the wines typically have a sinewy, muscular structure.