2009 Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

The 2009 Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru from Rousseau is a comparatively extroverted, baroque rendition of this wine, and its bouquet is already relatively forthcoming, wafting from the glass with fragrant notes of wild strawberry, black cherry, woodsmoke, loamy soil, grilled meat and soy. On the palate, the wine is richly textural, three-dimensional and complete, with an ample core of fruit, supple tannins and extravagant breadth. Rousseau's decision to harvest relatively early, however, seems to have been vindicated by vibrant acids and fruit that remains juicy and succulent, despite all its sumptuousness.

This is quite ripe yet the impression is one of freshness with no surmaturité while the aromas reveal an exuberant spiciness to the dense mix of red and black fruit and wet stone aromas. The supple, round and marvelously well-detailed broad-shouldered flavors possess a silky mid-palate brimming with dry extract on the almost painfully intense and massively long mineral-driven finish that displays stunning persistence. The 2009 is an impeccably well-balanced effort in yet another in a long line of great vintages for this storied wine.