Domaine Rousseau

The finest estate in Gevrey..

Ask anyone for a list of the top three estates in Burgundy and you can put your money on Rousseau being on the list.  “The domaine”, which is to say the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, is probably the first name on everyone’s teamsheet and then it’s probably either Leroy or Rousseau.  Have a think about that and the wines of Domaine Rousseau, all of a sudden, do look to be rather good value.

The wines of DRC and Leroy achieve prices so high that mere wine merchants rarely get to drink them.  The wines of Domaine Rousseau aren’t cheap, but they’re not so expensive that they can’t be opened.  And their reputation is justified: it is almost annoying that, at any dinner, lunch or tasting where a bottle or two is opened, the Rousseau just walks it.

One of the pioneers of domaine bottling in the 1930s, the domaine holds some of Gevrey’s finest vineyards.  Chambertin, Clos de Beze and Clos St Jacques are the most famous labels though Mazis-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Ruchottes-Chambertin and Clos de la Roche are not to be sniffed at.  A few years ago the quality of the two Chambertins and the Clos St Jacques were more than just a notch ahead of the rest, though in recent years the quality across the board has been more uniform.

What isn’t up for debate is this: these are amongst the finest wines in the world.  The Renaissance Vintners selection can be seen HERE: