Domaine Armand Rousseau is a French wine grower and producer. It is based in

Gevrey-Chambertin Gevrey-Chambertin () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department of France in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.

Côte de Nuits The Côte de Nuits () is a French wine region located in the northern part of the Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is at the heart of the Burgundy wine region. It extends from Dijon to just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges, which gives its name to ...

wine-growing region of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, France.

History

Armand Rousseau was born in 1884 to a family heavily involved in the wine industry as merchants, coopers and

vignerons Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and w ...

. He inherited several vineyard plots and the current domaine building in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin as part of his wedding in 1909. After rapid expansion in vineyard holdings, with purchases in

Charmes-Chambertin Charmes-Chambertin is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 191-195 Workman Publi ...

Clos de la Roche Clos de la Roche is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 191-195 Workman Publishing 2001 It is situated in t ...

and

Chambertin Chambertin is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, ...

in the late 1910s and 1920s, the domaine began to bottle and sell its own wine in the 1930s after advice given by Raymond Baudoin, founder of the

La Revue du vin de France ''La Revue du vin de France'' is a French magazine on wine published monthly. The publication has been described by wine critic Jancis Robinson as "France's only serious wine magazine". Following the magazine's acquisition by Groupe Marie Claire i ...

. Armand Rousseau was among the first few producers to bottle his own wine in Burgundy, with the majority of other growers in the region selling their wines to

négociant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

businesses to bottle and sell. Rousseau was also a pioneer within Burgundy in selling his wine to the United States market after the end of

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

in the mid to late 1930s. Further vineyard acquisitions were made with plots purchased in Mazis Chambertin in 1937, Mazoyeres-Chambertin in 1940 and Clos Saint Jacques in 1954 as well as two additional plots in the Chambertin vineyard in 1943 and 1956. Charles Rousseau, born in 1923, started working at his father's estate in 1946. Charles had studied law followed by

oenology Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

at The University of Dijon. His father Armand was killed in a car accident in 1959 and Charles took over as the sole winemaker. At the time of Charles taking over the estate, Domaine Rousseau held 6.5 hectares of vineyards. Expansion continued with plots in Clos de Bèze purchased in 1961, Clos de la Roche in 1965 and 1975, additional plots of Chambertin in 1968 and 1983 as well as the entire Clos des Ruchottes vineyard in 1978. Current vineyard holdings stand at just under 14 hectares. Charles Rousseau's son Eric Rousseau is the current winemaker, with some input still from Charles as well as involvement on the commercial side from his daughters Corinne and Brigitte.

Wines

Domaine Rousseau owns sections of and makes wines from many renowned

Grand Cru Cru is a wine term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which is traditionally translated as "growth", as is the past participle of the verb "croître" (to grow); it literally means 'grown'. The ...

and

Premier Cru Cru is a wine term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which is traditionally translated as "growth", as is the past participle of the verb "croître" (to grow); it literally means 'grown'. The ...

vineyards. All the wines are made entirely from the

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

grape. The average production is 65,000 bottles per vintage and 90% of production is exported to over 30 countries worldwide.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official Website
Burgundy (historical region) wine producers