Emmanuel Rouget began making his own Échezeaux in 1985, trained and mentored by his uncle, the legendary Henri Jayer. Rouget assisted Jayer at his domaine, and so learned his craft from the greatest Burgundy vigneron of his generation.

In 1989 the first Cros Parantoux under the Rouget label appeared, sitting alongside that of Méo-Camuzet and Henri Jayer (Jayer retired – officially – in 1991, but Cros Parantoux, in small quantities, continued at Domaine Henri Jayer until the 2001 vintage). It is this vineyard that is perhaps most closely associated with Henri Jayer, because it was Jayer who brought it back from desolation, the first vintage appearing with this name in 1978.

Nowadays these wines are made by Emmanuel’s son Guillaume, with a sensitive and talented pair of hands. He joined Domaine Emmanuel Rouget in 2011 (when he was only 19 years old). It was quite exciting to meet this humble young man who follows in the footsteps of his father and great uncle. I can’t imagine the pressure involved in taking over such a legacy. Currently, Guillaume takes care of the winemaking and all the tasks in the cellar. His brother, Nicolas cares for the vineyards.

Our team were in Burgundy during the summer of 2018, and one of the domaines we visited was Emmanuel Rouget. Guillaume hosted us in an in-depth barrel tasting of the entire range from the Bourgogne Rouge through to the Beaumonts, Échezeaux and Cros Parantoux. In style, Beaumonts is fragrant and fleshy with an enticing ‘Vosne-spice’ character – it’s the most seductive of the three. The Échezeaux is perhaps the grandest of the three, showing power and concentration, with supple texture. The Cros Parantoux is perhaps the slowest to evolve, the most reserved, with intensity close to that of the Échezeaux, but with real tensile strength, precision and purity of expression. It is the most intellectually interesting of the three in my view, but also requires the most patience. But do not overlook the ‘lesser’ appellations here. Guillaume is passionate about them and it shows in the quality. We are also big fans of the tangy Aligote.

For winemaking, grapes are sorted in the vineyard during harvest, then again when they have arrived at the domaine. All grapes are 100% destemmed before cool pre-ferment maceration. The wine is matured in carefully selected barrels, half of them come from François Frères, along with Taransaud and Cavin. For the Bourgogne Rouge, 1-year-old barrels are used, and 50% new oak for Vosne-Romanée, but 100% for Savigny-lès-Beaune, Nuits.St.-Georges and other crus. [1]

The wines from Domaine Emmanuel Rouget share much of the energy and reserve of Jayer’s. These are immaculately made wines with a sense of depth and wildness, you’ll likely want to keep these in your cellar for a bit longer or open them up well in advance of dinner to give them time to breathe. But, do take this opportunity to take them home. Exceptional wines are made at Domaine Emmanuel Rouget, and they are continuing to get better!