2017 Bourgogne Rouge

Rouget’s wines are too often compared with those of his revered uncle, Henri Jayer. It sometimes seems that whilst Henri Jayer’s now stratospherically priced bottles are beyond reproach, it is fair game to criticize his nephew’s. Personal issues led to periods when Rouget’s wines could have been better, but over the last five or six years, they are vastly improved and far more reliable. That is partly due to Rouget’s two sons joining their father – Nicolas working out in the vines and Guillaume more stationed in the winery. There now appears to be genuine profundity from some of their greatest vineyards. Emmanuel Rouget himself is a man of few words, always a little standoffish at the beginning but warming up and turning affable once he feels comfortable. “It is a vintage that is très bourguignon,” he told me, flitting from one barrel to another in his cellar, which is often a degree cooler than others. He admired the precision of the 2017s and the manner in which the oak barrels are integrated during élevage. Most of his alcohol levels are around 13.0°. I appreciate Rouget’s deftness in assimilating the 100% new oak in his Echézeaux and Cros Parantoux. Whereas elsewhere such a regime can dominate and obscure fruit and nuance, at this address it is barely noticeable, and complementary to the wine. Clearly both Emmanuel and Guillaume are prudent in use of new oak, applying 30% in some of the Village Crus, the Nuits Saint-Georges being a standout here. There are those who shell out thousands of dollars or euros for a piece of Burgundy history, buying any Henri Jayer wines at whatever the cost and too often with suspect provenance. Me? I would prefer to spend my hard-earned cash on recent vintages produced by his nephew and the next generation.