Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin Grand Cru 2020 (Gevrey-Chambertin)

One of the greatest names in all of Burgundy, dating back to the 1930s when Armand was one of the first of five domaines to defy the negociants and bottle their own wine. The Rousseau name is synonymous with Gevrey-Chambertin; Armand passed the reins to Charles who on retirement passed control to his son Eric.

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. Date: Jan 2023; Drink: 2050+; Rating 99 Points; Allen Meadows