2016 La Grande Rue, Grand Cru, Domaine François Lamarche, Burgundy

The long thin strip of La Grande Rue, the Lamarche monopole, is the ham in the sandwich between Romanée-Conti and La Tâche. There was no frost here at all. The impression now is of something meatier, stronger, richer, but also layered and detailed. In the final analysis, ineffable. A worthy conclusion to a beguiling flight of wines. Drink 2025-2040.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Domaine Lamarche today produces 14 different wines from 11 hectares. Ancestors of the Lamarche family were already living in the village of Vosne-Romanée in 1740, though the domaine was really established in the early 20th century. Henri Lamarche, born in 1903, received La Grande Rue in 1933 as a wedding present. Henri was succeeded by his son François and now his granddaughters; Nicole in charge of winemaking and Nathalie on the marketing side. As well as more meticulous work in the vineyards, better barrel selection and a new cuverie (since 2000) have combined to make this a fine and consistent domaine. This was a vintage to truly deliver Nicole Lamarche’s ambitions. Already on a road to make the most delicate, ineffable expressions of Pinot Noir – organic, unfined and unfiltered – this year the quality and health of the fruit has allowed her to eschew new oak as well. There is a policy to use 30 percent whole-bunch throughout the range. For Nicole this is a spiritual vintage, the quintessence of Pinot Noir, whose core she has tried to express through the extraordinary collection of terroirs she has under her, and her cousin Nathalie’s, stewardship. But, tragically, frost has reduced the domaine’s total yield by half and their Les Suchots was practically wiped out with an 80 percent loss.