The 1996 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru, at 25 years old, offers dark cherries and bay leaf, traits I have noticed before, but here I found a touch of Earl Grey and, with aeration, a heightened marine/oyster shell scent. The palate is beautifully balanced and still exudes wonderful, life-affirming transparency. A little rugged on the finish, like most of Rousseau’s 1996s, but fresh as a daisy and so sapid. What more could I want from this Rousseau, except a market price that does not oblige secretly selling my daughter’s entire collection of ultra-rare Pokémon cards on eBay? Tasted at a private dinner in Mayfair.

This dark-colored wine is produced from vines that were planted in 1920 and 1921. Profound aromas of red cherries, blackberries covered in chocolate, morel and porcini mushrooms, road tar, and toasty oak lead to an awesome explosion of densely packed fruit on the palate. Layers of juicy and plump cherries, minerals, stones, and fresh herbs are intertwined with vanilla-imbued oak in this expressive and feminine beauty. It possesses extraordinary depth, concentration, and structure. This full-bodied, velvety-textured, refined, and focused wine also possesses an extremely long and delineated finish. It should be at its best between 2003 and 2010.
92-94 points – Pierre Rovani (Wine Advocate #118, Aug 1998)

Good red-ruby. Altogether more vibrant, sexy nose combines cherry, plum, smoke, coffee, game and Cuban tobacco. Fleshy, round and elegant; a distinct step up in extract and volume. Really compelling sweetness of fruit. Very suave and very long on the finish, which features extremely fine tannins. A superb showing today.

There is grand cru breed and elegance to burn in a medium bodied, finely detailed package with good richness and compelling complexity to the concentrated and very long flavors. Another outstanding Rousseau Clos St. Jacques that should improve for years to come. Drink Now+.
– Burghound.com. Tasted: April 2016