2012 La Grande Rue, Grand Cru, Domaine François Lamarche, Burgundy

2012 La Grande Rue, Grand Cru, Domaine François Lamarche, Burgundy

Product: 20121040258
Prices start from £1,950.00 per case Buying options
2012 La Grande Rue, Grand Cru, Domaine François Lamarche, Burgundy

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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12 x 75cl bottle
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Description

We cannot remember tasting a young Grande Rue as magisterial as this, which shows itself to be head and shoulders above the rest of this excellent range. Impressively rich purple in colour, this offers a very pure nose, with great intensity and there is plenty of structure behind without dependence on new wood. Astonishing length of flavour, really complex as well. The nobility of this wine really stands out in 2012.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Nathalie Lamarche recalls that the harvest began on 22nd September with acceptable yields in the Vosne-Romanée vineyards, about the same as for 2011. In vinification Nicole Lamarche uses a small proportion of whole bunches, while the amount of new wood in the barrel cellar has been reduced to a maximum of 50% for the Grands Crus. This is the best selection of wines that Nicole Lamarche has produced since taking control of the winemaking in 2007. In short, a really fine range.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate93+/100
Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Beaune. The 2012 La Grande Rue Grand Cru from Lamarche has a fabulous bouquet that gently unfurls in the glass: fine mineralit and tension, wonderful precision here. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tensile tannin, crisp and poised, tightly wound and certainly needing several years to really show its mettle, but a great wine that is both understated yet intense. I'll be cautious now, but I would not be surprised to see this gain more favourable reviews in the future.
Neal Martin - 30/10/2015 Read more

About this WINE

Domaine Nicole Lamarche

Domaine Nicole Lamarche

The division of vineyards with Nicole's cousin Natalie is now complete, and Nicole now has under seven hectares, down from 11 hectares. The Malconsorts and Grands Echezeaux have gone but the monopole of La Grande Rue remains. Nicole Lamarche took over from her father, François, in 2006; from ’19, the domaine now carries her name.

Nicole’s style is one of a light touch; the wines aren’t deeply coloured and are sensually soft yet show wonderful intensity.

In the vineyard
Under her aegis, the vineyards have been converted to organic and biodynamic production, although certification isn’t sought. The vines are now trained higher, and leaf cover is retained. In the cellar, the barrel regime has been changed, both in the lower proportion of new oak used each year, and in the coopers that supply the barrels

In the winery
When asked for details of the winemaking process, Nicole remains steadfastly enigmatic: there’s no formula and every cuvée receives a customised élevage. However, there’s always a proportion of whole bunch on the top wines, usually around 30%.

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Vosne-Romanée

Vosne-Romanée

The small commune of Vosne-Romanée is the Côte de Nuits brightest star, producing the finest and most expensive Pinot Noir wines in the world.. Its wines have an extraordinary intensity of fruit which manages to combine power and finesse more magically than in any other part of the Côte d’Or. The best examples balance extraordinary depth and richness with elegance and breeding.

Situated just north of Nuits-St Georges, Vosne-Romanée boasts eight Grand Cru vineyards, three of which include the suffix Romanée, to which the village of Vosne appended its name in 1866. The famous La Romanée vineyard was formerly known as Le Cloux but was renamed in 1651, presumably after the Roman remains found nearby. In 1760 the property was bought by Prince de Conti, and subsequently became known as Romanée-Conti.

Vosne is the home of the phenomenally fine wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti; divine wines that are, as they say, not for everyone but for those who can afford them. The region also boasts some of the world’s most talented, quality-conscious and pioneering producers: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti of course, but also Henri Jayer, Lalou Bize-Leroy, René Engel, as well as the Grivot and Gros families, to name but a few.

Vosne-Romanée has the greatest concentration of top vineyards in the Côte d’Or, including the tiny Grand Crus of the astonishing La Romanée-Conti (a monopoly of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti producing about 600 cases a year), the classy, complex La Romanée (a monopoly of Vicomte Liger-Belair, but until 2002 bottled under Bouchard Père et Fils, producing a minuscule 300 cases or so a year) and the little-known La Grande Rue. As the name suggests, this runs up the side of the road out of Vosne. Originally a Premier Cru, it was rightly upgraded in 1992, although its rich, spicy, floral Pinots are yet to reach their real potential under Domaine Lamarche who hold it as a monopoly.

By convention the wines of neighbouring Flagey-Echézeaux are considered part of Vosne-Romanée. These include the large, very variable 30-hectare Echézeaux (divided between 84 different growers) and the more consistent, silky, intense, violet-scented Grands Echézeaux Grands Crus.

La Tâche is another monopoly of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. It is explosively seductive with a peerless finesse, and is almost as good as their legendary eponymous wine. Richebourg is one of Burgundy’s most voluptuous wines and is capable of challenging La Tâche in some years, while Romanée-St Vivant, which takes its name from the monastery of St Vivant built around 900AD in Vergy, has a lovely silky finesse but is slightly less powerful.

If that wasn’t enough, Vosne-Romanée also boasts some absolutely magnificent Premiers Crus headed by Clos des Réas, Les Malconsorts (just south of La Tâche, and arguably of Grand Cru quality) and Les Chaumes on the Nuits-St Georges side, Cros Parantoux (made famous by Henri Jayer), Les Beaux Monts and Les Suchots on the Flagey-Echézeaux border. The old maxim that ‘there are no common wines in Vosne-Romanée’ may not be strictly true, but it is not far off.

Drinking dates vary, but as a general rule of thumb Grand Crus are best drunk from at least 10 to 25 years, while Premier Crus can be enjoyed from 8 to 20 years, and village wines from 5 to 12 years.

There are no white wines produced in Vosne-Romanée.
  • 99 hectares of village Vosne-Romanée.
  • 56 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (14 in all). Foremost vineyards include Les Gaudichots, Les Malconsorts, Cros Parentoux, Les Suchots, Les Beauxmonts, En Orveaux and Les Reignots.
  • 75 hectares of Grand Cru vineyards: Romanée-Conti, La Romanée, La Tache, Richebourg, Romanée St Vivant, La Grande Rue, Grands Echézeaux, Echézeaux.
  • Recommended producers: Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Leroy, Cathiard, Engel, Rouget, Grivot, Liger Belair.

 

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Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.

Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.

The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.

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