Harvesting at Rousseau began on 5 September. Yields were “good”, said Cyrielle Rousseau. Excess was contained by taking grapes off the vines in July and August.
As usual, grapes were destemmed, but a small amount of stems was added back to the fermentation tank to aid drainage. Malolactic fermentations finished at the end of January. Alcohols are normal.
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin
This wine is pure with finesse and precision to its red fruits. The texture is smooth and the overall impression is of charm. (89-91)
2017 Gevrey-Chambertinn Clos du Château
From the vineyards of the Château de Gevrey-Chambertin, which Roumier has been managing since it was sold to in investor in Macau in 2012. This wine has red fruits, elegance, and lightness. (89-91)
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux-Saint-Jacques
Here we have red fruits and spice with more energy than in the village wines. Good minerality, too. (91-94)
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers
The Gevrey-Cazetiers has dark and spicy fruit aromas. The mouth is spicy with red fruits, good structure, and more weight than the previous wines. (91-94)
2017 Charmes-Chambertin
The Charmes-Chambertin is spicy, perfumed, and stony in the nose. The mouth is smooth with red cherry and dark fruits. The wine is medium-weight and smooth, and overall has plenty of charm. Good balance here. (92-94)
2017 Mazy-Chambertin
Rousseau’s Mazy-Chambertin has more weight than the Charmes. The fruit is dark and juicy, there’s excellent length, and pleasing smoothness. (93-95)
2017 Clos de la Roche
The Clos de la Roche is spicy and stony in the nose. The mouth is smooth with dark fruits, but as with most 2017s from Clos de la Roche that I tasted, the normal tension is lacking. Still, this wine is outstanding and features excellent depth and concentration. (93-96)
2017 Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes
This is a medium-weight wine with red fruits, stoniness, some juiciness, and roundness. Some nervosity here, too. (93-96)
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques
The Gevrey-Clos Saint-Jacques is pure and spicy with red fruits in the nose. The mouth shows crystallinity with red fruits in a medium-weight body. 80% new oak in this vintage. (94-96)
2017 Chambertin
The Chambertin is spicy in the nose. The mouth, too, is spicy with breadth, length, depth, and complexity. It is a seamless wine with density and concentration. (96-98)
2017 Chambertin-Clos-de-Bèze
The Chambertin-Clos-de-Bèze, shown after the Chambertin for the second consecutive year (because it needs more time to digest the oak, says Cyrielle Rousseau), does show some oak in the nose, along with characterisitc musk aromas. The mouth is medium-weight with darker fruit than the Chambertin. The wine shows good density, structure, length, and tannic structure. (96-98)