He would have been aware in advance that a parcel of vines would be coming on the market.
As such he must have known the area and its wines as well as anybody. He lived in Gevrey and was a middle man between his neighbour, the local growers, and the wine-merchants in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune. But someone, I could have replied, must tell the emperor that he has no clothes on.Īrmand Rousseau, Charles’ father, was a wine broker before the first world war. He thought that it was presumptuous of me to have said so. I had written that I had found his 1988s disappointing. I remember a day I received a rather aggrieved letter from an important French personnage. Criticise them and you wound the proprietor himself. A grower’s wines are as precious and as personal as his own children. This openness, this honesty, though now on the increase, especially among the younger generation, is rarer than one might think. He will admit that there were problems with rot in 1983, and that as a result of a strange bacteria or enzyme in his cellar his 1978s and 1979s are not up to scratch. He has the refreshing ability to be dispassionate about the quality of both his own and his neighbours’ wines. Small, ebullient and shrewd, he is generous with his time and his willingness to impart information.
My Favorite Burgundies, Clive Coates – Available at Amazon USAĬharles Rousseau himself – he was born in 1923 and took over on his father’s death in a car accident in 1959 – is one of nature’s gentlemen. My Favorite Burgundies, Clive Coates – Available at Amazon UK. Indeed as far as Chambertin and Clos de Bèze are concerned you could even argue that there is Rousseau, and then there are the rest. Rousseau is one of the small number of Burgundy estates to which I would unhesitatingly award three stars. There is, of course, one major exception. You are better off with the holdings of outsiders such as Drouhin, Bouchard Père & Fils and Louis Jadot, all based in Beaune, Faiveley in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Bruno Clair in Marsannay, or Leroy in Vosne-Romanée, than those of Gevrey-based growers such as Camus, Rebourseau and Tortochot. Though several of these, notably Damoy, Drouhin-Laroze, Jean & Jean-Louis Trapet,and their cousins Rossignol-Trapet have showed welcome signs of progress in the last decade or so, the wines of many of the rest of the growers in the village need to be approached with caution. Large portions of both vineyards are owned by under-achievers. When it comes to Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Bèze, Burgundy is a minefield. Scroll down to see Clive Coates MW’s Domaine Armand Rousseau wine ratings in this article All from Clive’s recent books and now available online for Decanter Premium members We look back at his domaine profiles from his most recent books, along with tasting notes from iconic vintages from Domaine Armand Rousseau. 
Clive Coates MW is the master of Burgundy.
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