Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (94)

(aged in 75% new oak, vs. 15% for the Clos des Ruchottes and 0% for the preceding wines; the Clos de Beze and Chambertin here always get 100% new oak): Good full, deep red. Lovely tangy perfume of cherry, raspberry, red licorice, fresh herbs, rose petal and spicy oak. Dense, sweet and fine, with an obvious new oak element nicely carried by the wine's concentration of fruits and flowers. Offers an uncanny combination of seamless texture and power. Most impressive today on the firmly structured, slowly building finish, which features fine-grained tannins and a complex saline and spice perfume. A beauty.

Vinous (96)

Rousseau's 2011 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St. Jacques is flat-out gorgeous. Waves of blue/purplish fruit hit the palate in an intense, explosive Burgundy loaded with pure class and pedigree. This is another 2011 that is going to need considerable time in bottle to come around. Today, the Clos St. Jacques impresses for its richness, power and depth.

Vinous (96)

Rousseau's 2011 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St. Jacques is flat-out gorgeous. Waves of blue/purplish fruit hit the palate in an intense, explosive Burgundy loaded with pure class and pedigree. This is another 2011 that is going to need considerable time in bottle to come around. Today, the Clos St. Jacques impresses for its richness, power and depth.

Wine Advocate (97)

Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Rousseau's 2014 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques has a very refined and delineated bouquet with prudent use of new oak here that is seamlessly integrated and allows the vibrant red fruit to flourish. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, very good tension and a welcome dash of spice toward the finish that conveys genuine substance and class. The aftertaste is incredibly long—the mouth tingling with residual spiciness long after the wine has departed. This is stunning and, dare I suggest, equal to Rousseau's Chambertin and Clos de Bèze. Tasted September 2017.

Vinous (97)

The 2016 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru is blessed with a bouquet of real pedigree: very complex mixture of red and black brambly fruit, sous-bois, crushed stone and rose petal aromas. The harmony and delineation is outstanding. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, pliant tannins that lend this Clos Saint-Jacques symmetry and poise. Fresh and vibrant, it never relinquishes any of its breeding and tension. The finish is persistent and utterly captivating. Fabulous. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.

Vinous (96-98)

The 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru has an exquisite bouquet that offers transparent red fruit, fine mineralité, sous-bois, and a sense of vivacity and focus that this vineyard has above all over premier crus. The harmonious palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, orange peel and a velvety-smooth finish. Superb.

Burghound (96)

(Outstanding) Here too there is just enough wood to warrant mentioning framing the exceptionally spicy red berry fruit and floral-suffused aromas. There is fine density to the sleekly muscular and intense flavors that are blessed with fine mid-palate concentration on the tightly wound and sneaky long finish that is both balanced and notably firm, and which should enable this to evolve and improve for at least two decades. There is a hint of warmth but it's not enough to really detract from the overall sense of harmony. In a word, impressive.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (93-96)

Fine mid purple colour. Already the oak (80% new wood) adds an extra level of intensity but clearly there is a wealth of fruit too. A burst of divine sweet fruit greets the back of the palate, long and lovely. Drink from 2028-2036.

Vinous (92-94)

The 2019 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er Cru has wonderful transparency on the nose of red currant and wild strawberry, plus glimpses of orange blossom and rose petal. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, lightly spiced and quite peppery in the mouth. Fine grip and length. This is a lovely Lavaux that will be difficult to resist in its youth.

Vinous (90-92)

The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er Cru has a mineral-driven bouquet with dark berry fruit, sous-bois and just a touch of dessicated orange peel. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and fine acidity. Is it the most complex Lavaux? Maybe not, though it has an attractive juiciness mixed with sapidity that keeps you coming back for more.

Vinous (90)

The 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin captures the richness of the year in its pliant, open personality. Wonderfully dense and expressive, especially for a village-level wine, the 2005 is drinking beautifully today. Worn-in leather, spices, tobacco and dried dark cherries meld into the succulent, expressive finish. This is a terrific village-level offering from Rousseau.

Vinous (89-91)

The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Village has a little more intensity and lifted compared to the Clos du Château, a touch more mineralité too. The palate is very well balanced, quite juicy and ripe but over excessively. Dark berry fruit laced with spice and it fans out wonderfully on the finish. Lovely.

Vinous (84-86)

The 2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos du Château matures in used oak, has a lifted crushed strawberry and rose petal scented bouquet. The palate is light in terms of body but nicely balanced with tart cherry fruit and a slightly attenuated finish.

Vinous (90+)

Medium red. Red fruits and tobacco on the nose, with some funky hints of truffley evolution. Silky and fine-grained on entry, then classically dry but more harmonious in the middle palate than the nose suggests. Clamps down on the finish, showing a cool and slightly ungiving character and an edge of acidity. I expected a bit more expansiveness and sweetness but Cyrielle Rousseau noted that she and her father Eric find their 1999s rather ungiving so far. She told me that she opened this bottle about six hours before I tasted it and predicted that it would be better the next day. She also described this Mazy as a funny wine, like a clown.

Vinous (90+)

Medium red. Red fruits and tobacco on the nose, with some funky hints of truffley evolution. Silky and fine-grained on entry, then classically dry but more harmonious in the middle palate than the nose suggests. Clamps down on the finish, showing a cool and slightly ungiving character and an edge of acidity. I expected a bit more expansiveness and sweetness but Cyrielle Rousseau noted that she and her father Eric find their 1999s rather ungiving so far. She told me that she opened this bottle about six hours before I tasted it and predicted that it would be better the next day. She also described this Mazy as a funny wine, like a clown.

Vinous (94-96)

The 2019 Mazy-Chambertin Grand Cru is clearly a step up from the Charmes-Chambertin, offering deeper and more intense red fruit, rose petal and undergrowth aromas. There is also a more tangible marine influence at play here. The palate is medium-bodied with very good structure. Elegant and poised toward the finish, which leaves hints of tobacco and truffle on the aftertaste. Superb. Quintessentially Rousseau.

Vinous (90)

Fresher, deeper red. Much more complex aromas of black cherry, raspberry, leather, game, herbs and spices. Suave, silky and concentrated; fresher than the Clos de la Roche thanks to harmonious acids. Really seamless texture. Finishes with well-buffered tannins, very good grip and strong fruit.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2014 Ruchottes Chambertin Grand Cru takes time to unfurl in the glass, eventually opening out with dark berry fruit, a touch of briary and blueberry, and a suggestion of sea spray. It is paradoxically intense but subtle. The palate is medium-bodied and here, it just shows the wood a little more than say, the Clos de la Roche. There is good density here, but it is the acidity that drives this forward and imparts so much tension. This is a Ruchottes that rivets you to the spot.

Vinous (92-94)

(30% new oak): Good medium red. Pure, restrained aromas and flavors of black cherry, licorice and minerals. Silky and fine-grained on entry, then juicy and tighter in the middle, showing strong calcaire energy as the mother rock here isn't much more than a foot below the surface. This rich, firmly tannic wine boasts a long, rising finish featuring black fruits and violet. Impeccably balanced from the start, but this youthfully austere wine will need time in the cellar. The estate is slowly replanting this vineyard, so this 2016 is a mix of old and young vines.

Jancis Robinson (19)

Going into the darker fruit spectrum here but with a cool elegance in the aroma. Dark and ripe yet the ripeness is somehow savoury not sweet. Like roasted veg. Elegance and restrained, super-fine tannins. A dark, refined beauty with paper-like tannins in layers.

Vinous (96-98)

The 2019 Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes Grand Cru has a thrilling bouquet struck through with mineral-rich red berry fruit that teasingly takes time to unfurl in the glass; you can sense the limestone, and hints of graphite emerge later. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, quite piquant in style, leading to an edgy, slightly chalky finish that bristles with energy. This has great potential as a poised Ruchottes.

Vinous (96-98)

The 2019 Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes Grand Cru has a thrilling bouquet struck through with mineral-rich red berry fruit that teasingly takes time to unfurl in the glass; you can sense the limestone, and hints of graphite emerge later. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, quite piquant in style, leading to an edgy, slightly chalky finish that bristles with energy. This has great potential as a poised Ruchottes.

Vinous (91-93)

The 2021 Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes Grand Cru is much more introspective on the nose compared to the Clos de la Roche or Mazy, displaying dark berry fruit, loam and blackcurrant pastilles. Maybe not quite the mineralité of previous vintages? The palate is medium-bodied with orange rind and allspice on the entry. Showing fine weight, there's a little sinew within this cuvée and a tobacco-tinged finish. Quite a "serious" 2021 from Rousseau - I am fascinated to see how this will show once in bottle.

Immerse your senses in the splendid Arnaud Ente Bourgogne Aligote 2013, a gem from the feted soils of Burgundy. Crafted by meticulous vintner, Arnaud Ente, respected globally for his dedication to terroir-expressive wines. This Aligoté uses grapes meticulously handpicked from vineyards with diverse soil types. Their vinification in old oak barrels bestows a rich, textured palate laced with melon, citrus and floral undertones.

The wine's notable minerality reflects its birthplace, offering a captivating tension between freshness and depth. Arnaud Ente's precise viticulture and traditional vinification practices ensure this Bourgogne Aligoté's potential for graceful ageing, unfolding layers of complexity with every year. Subtle oak integration results in a wine that's beautifully balanced, with the vivacious acidity of Aligoté grape extraordinarily intact.

Indulge in Arnaud Ente Bourgogne Aligote 2013 – a remarkable testimonial for Aligoté's potential to yield extraordinary wines when nurtured with passion and respect. It's less a wine, more an experience.

Wine Advocate (89+)

Arnaud Ente's 2015 Bourgogne Aligoté offers up aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, blanched almond and honeysuckle—the prelude to a medium-bodied, bright and vibrant wine, with succulent acids, lovely extract and almost crystalline purity. This bottling hails from old vines planted in the commune of Meursault and is routinely one of the finest examples of this variety to be found in all the Côte d'Or. Indeed, while Aligoté is seldom cellared, this will really blossom with a few years' sleep: the 2008, for example, is at the peak of its powers today.

Vinous (88)

This was followed by the 2016 Bourgogne Aligoté from Domaine Arnaud Ente. “Best wine in the range?” I half-jested, in praise of Ente’s Aligoté rather than disparaging his Chardonnays. Pale silvery in hue, it offers attractive scents of white flowers and apricot blossom, linden and hints of lemon verbena. The palate is well balanced, although I would have liked a little more tension toward the stem-ginger-tinged finish, which I felt was a little “woolly.”

Introducing the 'Arnaud Ente Bourgogne Blanc 2014', a vision of authentic craftsmanship, from one of the most respected vintners in Burgundy, Arnaud Ente. This elegantly balanced Chardonnay was vinified with indigenous yeast and matured meticulously in oak barrels for 12 months before a further 6 in stainless steel, creating an intricate, textural experience.

Arnaud Ente Bourgogne Blanc 2014 hails from Burgundy, a region revered for its limestone-rich soils and cool climate, both pivotal in imbuing Ente's wines with matchless acidity and mineral depth. Remarkably, this wine is an embodiment of the meticulous viticulture and hands-on vinification at the estate.

Its shimmering gold hue is a prelude to an aromatic symphony of orchard fruits, honey and toasted nuts, flawlessly balanced on the palate with a lasting finish. Acquiring a bottle of Arnaud Ente Bourgogne Blanc 2014 is an investment in a true artisanal expression of one of Burgundy's greatest terroirs.