2006 Armand Rousseau Hospices Clos de la Roche

Nutmeg, coriander, and fresh sour cherry aromas on the nose of Rousseau's 2006 Clos de La Roche usher in a fascinating palate, pungently spicy, tartly-fruited, and backed by an alkaline, saline, very marine sense of mineral abundance. The smoky, stony, and bitter-sweet elements in common with so many wines of this collection here steer clear of austerity thanks to the wine's sheer primary juiciness and the invigorative potential of its distinctive minerality. If tasted blind, I might well have picked it as a rarified expression of Clos St.-Denis. I expect this will be worth savoring over the next 6-8 years, but given the relative delicacy of its frame, I would want to monitor its evolution in case it seems a shame not to enjoy it sooner. Since Eric Rousseau – as mentioned in my issue 170 run-down of his methodology – does not on principle utilize a sorting table, I imagined the aftermath of hail in 2006 presenting a special challenge to his pickers and to bottled quality, but it was one he and his team clearly surmounted. Clos de Beze, Griotte-, and Chapelle-Chambertin were the worst-effected, relates Rousseau, along with numerous of his village-level parcels. Potential alcohol levels are closer to 2003's record highs than they are to those of 2005, but the finished 2006s – while hardly as successful as their immediate predecessors – do not suffer any spirituous roughness or heat, and are thus free to effectively make their relatively light, bright, and in the best instances distinctive statements. Rousseau reports – and my limited opportunities for comparison confirm – that the initially rather austere and even brittle, disjointed personalities of these wines were ameliorated in the course of elevage, and the best of them have blossomed beautifully. (I was unable to taste several top wines here after bottling, so my notes on those are based on a representative sampling and blending from cask shortly before bottling.) Importer: Frederic Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

Good full red. Serious, brooding nose dominated by meat and spices. Bigger and broader in the mouth than the Mazy, with a lower pitch and a wilder character to its flavors of dark berries, mocha, menthol, meat and spices. Finishes broad and suave, with big, dusty tannins.

Medium red. Musky brown spices, wild herbs, licorice and wild berries on the nose; distinctly more masculine and less refined than the foregoing samples from Gevrey. Sweeter and broader in the mouth, with dark flavors of blueberry and licorice complicated by spices, herbs and underbrush. More closed than the Mazy. Finishes with substantial dusty tannins.