1999 Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin Grand Cru

The 1999 Chambertin Grand Cru has a multi-faceted bouquet, a mélange of red and black fruit, sous-bois , desiccated orange peel and wilted rose petals. It simply blossoms in the glass, gaining complexity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, plenty of lift and energy, full of breeding from start to finish. Gentle grip, more youthful than the 1996 yet with the same stature, there is wonderful persistence. Unlike the 1996, this 1999 Chambertin is clearly still in the ascendency, though the bottle drunk in Hong Kong was marginally superior. Tasted at the Rousseau Chambertin vertical at La Vienne.

Poured blind, the 1999 Chambertin Grand Cru from Rousseau delivers... and then some. It has a beguiling, transparent bouquet that actually drew me away from guessing the normally more opulent and (at times) opaque Côte de Nuits reds of this powerful vintage, offering vivid and pixelated red fruit tinged with freshly rolled tobacco and a judicious touch of iron filings. The palate is very fine-boned with pitch-perfect acidity, vivacious red fruit and a hint of white pepper intermixed with Earl Grey. It fans out gloriously toward the persistent finish. Stunning. Tasted at Arbor restaurant in Hong Kong.