2005 Domaine Armand Rousseau, Chambertin-Clos de Beze Grand Cru 1x750ml

Vinous 95+

Good full red. Briary raspberry, dark cherry and menthol on the nose, along with a medicinal reserve. Powerful and thick on entry, then quite closed, even medicinal, in the middle, without the exotic character that this cuvee often shows in the early going. Quite closed today but this utterly seamless, superrich wine boasts superb structure and grip. Wonderfully long and pure on the back end, with strong but perfectly integrated acidity. Give this impeccably balanced wine 12 years. [Stephen Tanzer, 01/03/2008]

Robert Parker 96-98

The 2005 Chambertin Clos de Beze offers alluring aromas of licorice, mint, vanilla, plum paste, cherry preserves and rose petals, and seduces the palate with silky, incredibly refined texture and several octaves of fruit, herbal, floral and mineral notes, leading to a reverberative finish in which fruit pit and stony, chalky elements lend a sense of dark, weighty authority and an umami-like, meaty savor promotes uncontrollable salivation. No layering or mixing of metaphors can hope to do justice to the layering and concatenation of flavors on display. [David Schildknecht, 04/01/2007]