The CSJ feels a bit more rustic this year thanks to a brooding, smoky nose and firm, billowing tannins spreading out across the palate. Black currants, blackberries and a saline touch give this a definitively savory edge. The ripe fruit density plants onto the palate and doesn't budge until the sustained finish slowly drifts away.

An even crimson colour. The bouquet suggests a classical Clos St-Jacques despite the storm. Superb concentrated fruit on the palate, with the faintest sign of a drier patch at the finish, but the fruit should continue to develop very well to cover it. This is very nearly very fine indeed, Tasted Nov 2023.

The 2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques has turned out nicely, offering up rich aromas of smoky berries, plums, cedar spice box, orange zest and grilled squab, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and supple palate that's layered and seamless. Out of barrel, Clos Saint-Jacques can be one of the domaine's more muscular wines, but this year's rendition is very charming. The 2022 growing season chez Armand Rousseau was marked by a torrential rainstorm in June that flooded the domaine's cellar and caused appreciable erosion in the vineyards, in particular in the Clos Saint-Jacques. But that rain surely also helped prevent any hydric stress in July and August. Harvest here began on August 31, delivering a good crop of classically proportioned wines that, at this early stage, have more in common with the suave and charming 2017s than with more dense and brooding vintages, such as 2018 or 2020.(WK)