Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Rousseau's 2014 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques has a very refined and delineated bouquet with prudent use of new oak here that is seamlessly integrated and allows the vibrant red fruit to flourish. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, very good tension and a welcome dash of spice toward the finish that conveys genuine substance and class. The aftertaste is incredibly long—the mouth tingling with residual spiciness long after the wine has departed. This is stunning and, dare I suggest, equal to Rousseau's Chambertin and Clos de Bèze. Tasted September 2017.

A discreet but not invisible touch of wood sets off a more deeply pitched and intensely floral nose that in particular displays notes of violet and lavender along with plum, black cherry, spice and gentle earth scents. There is again excellent volume to the sleek but powerful and concentrated middle weight plus flavors that exude a fine bead of minerality on the moderately austere finish that delivers flat out superb persistence. While this gorgeously classy effort will also require extended keeping to reach its apogee, it contrasts with the grands crus in that it should be approachable after only 6 to 8 years of bottle age.

Very perfumed, spicy red fruit with floral hints and a silky texture with great tension and a savoury finish. A truly sensational wine – a premier cru that's firmly in the league of grands crus.

The 2014 Clos St. Jacques from Domaine Rousseau is also a great young wine in the making, but this wine was raised in seventy percent new oak and it really seemed subdued after the blazing display of terroir found in the Clos des Ruchottes! The bouquet is deep and complex, offering up scents of red and black cherries, grilled meats, cocoa, coffee, a complex base of minerality and plenty of spicy new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a fine core, lovely structure and balance, ripe tannins and a long, tangy and still quite primary finish. This will be terrific wine in the fullness of time, but I could just not help thinking what it might have looked like if treated like the Clos des Ruchottes and raised in only twenty percent new wood. (Drink between 2025-2075)