(96 - 100) An imperial robe as we have come to expect. The bouquet is very backward, no problem there either, all about the fruit, the new wood is irrelevant. Starts slowly then builds immaculately, still too early really to see the detail. As always it is about grace style intensity and length rather than overt muscle, all the finesse one can want. Long and lovely. Tasted: November 2021.

Note: 2.55 ha; 100% new wood. A distinctly cool and exuberantly fresh nose features reticent wonderfully spiced notes of various dark berries along with forest floor nuances that include humus and earth. The intensity of the imposingly broad-shouldered and muscular flavors is borderline painful with impressive power on the hugely long finish that is supported by incredibly dense but quite fine-grained tannins. This is magnificent and a wine of class and grace that will justly vie for wine of the vintage honors when it's time for such assessments. It's extremely rare that I put 30-year initial drinking windows for modern red Burgundies, but my prediction is that this stunningly brilliant wine will age glacially.

Not surprisingly, the 2020 Chambertin chez Rousseau is more reserved today than the stunningly inviting Clos St. Jacques, but in the fullness of time, this magical wine will reach even greater heights. The refined and very precise bouquet wafts from the glass in a blend of red and black plums, raw cocoa, gamebird, a beautifully complex base of soil tones, a gentle touch of spice, woodsmoke and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very deep at the core, with great mineral undertow and grip, ripe, buried tannins and a very, very long, nascently complex and oh, so promising finish. (Drink between 2040-2100)

The 2020 Chambertin Grand Cru has a touch of reduction but that soon dissipated to reveal intense black and red fruit, half and half really, crushed rock (sea cave), a very subtle marine influence the develops with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins, taut and fresh, closing in a little on the finish although I think that is due to the coolness creeping in within the cellar. This is already imbued with a tantalizing sense of magnificence - but would you expect anything less?(NM)

This is a transporting wine. Its harmony is always stunning. Its pure and bountiful fruit evenly matches the evident new oak notes of vanilla and spice that always show at this stage. The grainy, lightly dry tannins counterbalance the fruit exuberance. The exceedingly long, cherried finish is boosted by radiant acidity. This will come together even more beautifully in time, so do let it work its magic! The Rousseaus own a generous 2.55 hectares of this stellar Grand Cru. 2028-45.