2014 Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 1er Cru

Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, I remember that the 2014 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru les Cazetiers was perplexing from barrel. Here, it has a harmonious, elegant yet quite intense bouquet with red cherries, wild strawberry and white pepper scents gaining momentum all the time in the glass. The aromatics just seem to grow. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, very focused and harmonious with pure, tensile red cherries, strawberry and light spice notes on the saturated finish. The oak is seamlessly integrated and it just loses some of its initial class with aeration in the glass. Good, but hey, this is Rousseau. Tasted September 2017.

Deep red. Dark raspberry, licorice, mint and underbrush on the nose; more soil-driven and less floral than the Lavaux Saint-Jacques. Conveys serious density and sharp definition but comes across as a bit youthfully imploded today. Intense, juicy black raspberry fruit is complicated by a saline quality. Finishes with firm but suave tannins and saliva-inducing lift.