A couple of years back I had written about why it is absolutely necessary to hold a bottle of Armand Rousseau in your cellar. This wine has a winning formula, quality +history +terroir +low production. Only 8,800 bottles were produced in this particular vintage making them highly investible. The market price at the end of 2009 was $440 per bottle, well, in December 2019 it traded for $3683 per bottle. A remarkable 737% return on investment.
Burgundy has been in the spotlight since the last decade. The wines of this region have performed exceptionally well and have been highly sort after for hedging risks. A
lthough Bordeaux still dominated the market at the beginning of the decade, Burgundy gradually gained traction with investors.
Founded in 1910 Domaine Armand Rousseau is a jewel in the Cotes d’Or region, producing only red wines from Pinot Noir’s that are highly sort after for its impeccable quality. Coming from a small family of wine growers Armand Rousseau was a merchant in his early days when he begun to collect small parcels of fine Burgundian vineyards unaware of its value now. He took his friend Raymond Baudoin’s advise and bottled some wine under his own label, therefore making the first domaine bottled wine. He then travelled to the states to sell his wines once the prohibition had ended. His efforts in marketing paid off and Armand Rousseau became one of the most well known names from the region. Unfortunately he died many years later in a car accident and his son Charles Rousseau who had studied Oenology in Dijon, took over the properties. Just like his father he continued to promote the domaine and its wines, eventually adding more plots, cellars and investing in new equipment in the 80’s. The domaine holds 6.25 acres in Chambertin, 3.45 in Clos de Bèze, 5.5 acres in the Premier Cru Clos St.Jacques, 2.5-acre monopole Grand Cru Clos des Ruchottes, along with another grand cru, Clos de la Roche in Morey-St.Denis. Today Eric Rousseau, Charles’s son, along with his daughter Cyrielle Rousseau manage these estates.
Photo credits: Jonathan Farber