Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 2022

There is almost no such thing as an unimportant wine from Domaine Armand Rousseau — and the village Gevrey-Chambertin is the proof. The village wine is assembled from seven different parcels spread across the appellation from south to east, totalling around one hectare, and described by the domaine itself as a supple, elegant, and fruit-driven expression of the Gevrey terroir. Grapes are meticulously sorted on arrival at the winery, followed by a cool maceration of five to seven days before the must travels by gravity into barrel, where it remains for the entire vinification process of typically 18 to 24 months. Each Rousseau wine is blended and bottled unfiltered. The vines average 40 to 45 years of age, planted at 11,000 vines per hectare on east and south-east facing clay-limestone hillside soils, with yields held to 30 to 40 hectoliters per hectare.

What you get in the glass is a village wine that — in any other producer's hands — would be the crowning achievement of the range. Wild strawberry and morello cherry on the nose, quite gentle and lilting; the palate medium-bodied with cranberry and light spice on entry, darker berry fruit building toward the finish, and a saline tang that lingers on the aftertaste. The mouth is pure with dark fruits and a slight gaminess reminiscent of Clos Saint-Jacques — fresh and racy. For a village wine, this is remarkable — the concentration, length and minerality can easily pass for a premier cru.