Nutmeg, coriander, and fresh sour cherry aromas on the nose of Rousseau's 2006 Clos de La Roche usher in a fascinating palate, pungently spicy, tartly-fruited, and backed by an alkaline, saline, very marine sense of mineral abundance. The smoky, stony, and bitter-sweet elements in common with so many wines of this collection here steer clear of austerity thanks to the wine's sheer primary juiciness and the invigorative potential of its distinctive minerality. If tasted blind, I might well have picked it as a rarified expression of Clos St.-Denis. I expect this will be worth savoring over the next 6-8 years, but given the relative delicacy of its frame, I would want to monitor its evolution in case it seems a shame not to enjoy it sooner. - David Schildknecht