Domaine Armand Rousseau, Chambertin - Clos De Bèze 1990

90 / 100 Robert Parker
Both the Chambertin-Clos de Beze and Chambertin are more closed, deeper-colored wines than the outstanding Gevery-Chambertin-Clos St.-Jacques. It is often difficult to pick a favorite, but I thought the Chambertin-Clos de Beze to be lower in acidity and more forward. I would suggest cellaring it for 3-4 years, and I am sure it has at least 15 or more years of aging potential. The nose offers up roasted black-cherry and toasty new oak scents. In the mouth, there is outstanding concentration, full body, and a long, rich, moderately tannic finish. At the top level, Rousseau consistently produces three profound wines - Gevrey-Chambertin-Clos St.-Jacques (as good as most producer's grands crus), Chambertin-Clos de Beze, and Chambertin. That being said, I remain perplexed as to why Rousseau's other wines are so surprisingly light and fluid. While good, sometimes very good, they are markedly inferior to his top three wines. Never one to jump on the bandwagon for forward, super-ripe vintages, (he still believes 1983 is the finest vintage of the eighties), Rousseau is unpersuaded by the acclaim bestowed on 1990.
83, The Wine Advocate

95 / 100 Wine Spectator
Impressively concentrated, packed with bright flavors. Shows ripe fruit, smoke and earth notes on the extremely long finish. An exciting wine that takes off like a rocket. Drinkable in 1998. 450 cases made.
http://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/note_id/24416

18 / 20 Jancis Robinson
Rich and round and scented and pretty complex. Round and rich and gorgeous. Very vigorous with lots of direct fruit. Very long and powerful. Pretty dry finish.
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/tastings/search?keywords=Rou..

92 / 100 Allen Meadow
The ripe but not roasted nose is comprised by wonderfully complex aromatics of now entirely secondary fruit that is nuanced by notes of underbrush, earth, dried herbs and spice elements. There is still a bit of unresolved tannin to the still lightly structured medium-bodied flavors that possess very fine if not truly distinguished length on the otherwise well-balanced, rich and velvety finish. While the '90 Bèze is certainly drinking well today I wouldn't be inclined to hold it for the long-term as I sense that it may begin a graceful decline over the next 10 years. In sum, this would accurately be described as pretty rather than deep and while I have always enjoyed the '90 Bèze I find that it lacks the personality and refreshing punch of its '90 Chambertin stablemate (see herein). Multiple and mostly consistent notes of which the last was taken in 2011.
http://www.burghound.com/tnsearch/index.php?id=250481