Clos Saint Jacques

A very rich, solid Gevrey with a lovely smoky, spicy aspect from the inclusion of stems, this bursts with fruit and character; a fine wine from a great vineyard.

The Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St Jacques 2011 has an earthy bouquet, the stems quite prominent, though it is still well defined and full of freshness and vitality. It opens beautifully in the glass.

The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins, more linear than its peers, the acidity pitched higher, but that just lends tension and race on the finish. The aftertaste is long with plenty of spicy black fruit and blackcurrant pastilles. This is a very commendable, more masculine, structured Clos St. Jacques that has improved since I last tasted it a few months ago, putting a gap between itself and Rousseau's fellow premier cru.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Nov 2014

This wine is still very backward but it will certainly be dark in colour and exceptionally concentrated. We will have to wait to understand the detail of the fruit. 75% stems were retained.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Sylvie feels that her 2012s will benefit from a long maturation in barrel; the wines were certainly at a very backward stage of development when we tasted them in November. There was no hail in Gevrey- Chambertin but the poor flowering conditions restricted her crop to 25 hl/ha overall and she began picking on 24th September.

This Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St Jacques 1er Cru from Domaine Esmonin went through its malolactic fermentation late, so is very restrained compared to most. It has a magical intensity to the bouquet and there is a massive block of red and black fruit on the palate, together with a powerful finish. This will benefit from a few more months aging in barrel.

This has a hugely powerful fruit-laden bouquet with an intriguing edge of wood smoke. Theres an extraordinary, luxuriant ball of fruit in the mouth with an all but endless finish. Drink 2010-2018.

A spicy, peppery nose is a result of the stem component here, where there is a significant touch of class to the fruit too. Quality really shows on the palate, which is a brilliantly hedonistic mix of red and black cherry fruit with exceptional persistence.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Sylvie began picking on 28th September in 2010 and continued into October. Early in the season, once the flowering had produced so much millerandage – “Pinot Noir berries like little peas” – she felt it could have been a vintage of the century, though it would have taken better weather in August to deliver the early promise. As it is, the fine fruit and fresh finish to the wines reminds her more of 2002. The style of the domaine is for a high proportion of stems to be included, supported by new barrels.

With the 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St.-Jacques (which by its position in tastings here the Rousseaus conspicuously rate as grand cru) we arrive at the first wine that is matured in new wood. Pure, sweet, fresh black cherry fruit, marrowy and enveloping carnal richness, mysteriously enticing florality, low-toned, chalky minerality and accents of black tea and star anise are featured in this remarkably seamless wine. Meat, minerals and mystery dominate a finish that is profoundly layered yet preserves sheer palate-cleansing refreshment and positively vibrates with vividly fresh fruit intensity. Rousseau owns around one third of this great site, meaning that there are over a thousand cases of this phenomenal wine to ransack the marketplace in search of, then sock away for at least a decade and preferably two. It is always the last-harvested site, says Eric Rousseau, and in 2005 his roughly twenty veteran pickers could certainly afford to wait and richly rewarded us for it.
(David Schildknecht - Wine Advocate - Apr 07)

Bright crimson. Very rich and voluptuous on the nose. More transparent and open than Sylvie Esmonin's. Slightly fizzy. Tense and flirtatious. Some transparency that's the savour of Ruchottes. Sweet fruit. Teenage! 
Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com - Jan 2009

Demanding a full 100% new oak, this is quite honestly a Grand Cru in all but name. Brimming with pinpoint, small red-berried purity, theres a wonderful sense of reserve and noblesse when tasting this wine.

The dark ruby-colored 1999 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St.-Jacques has exuberant, sweet, blackberry fruit aromas. This medium to full-bodied wine has amplitude to its mouth-coating , black cherry, oak, and cassis liqueur flavors. It is velvety-textured, lively, and boisterous. Drink it over the next 10-11 years.
Pierre Rovani - Wine Advocate - Aug 01

This Gevrey-Chambertin, Clos St Jacques is as dense and dark a wine as anybody has made in 2007, with 70% whole bunch fermentation and 100% new oak. Between them these features give a smoky spice overtone above the concentrated dark fruit, and a really long finish; this is an extraordinary and luxuriant wine.
Jasper Morris MW-Burgundy Director  There’s a sense of ‘lift’ here, with some real class too. There’s fruit to the fore, but behind this and as it develops in the mouth, there’s a great deal more too. It shows balance and a lightness of touch, but not without Gevrey’s reassuring weight – a sign of a top grade terroir. A strong finish, with this level of fruit, suggests more to come but I would have no hesitation to enjoy now.
Tom Cave, BBR Fine Wine