Lamarche La Grande Rue

WINE TALK
21

Definitely 93 points!
blahblah

22

Not to say nay, but there’s reason Croix Rameau is what it is. Having had multiple experiences with Cacheux and Lamarche renditions, it is a mid-tier Vosne 1er - nowhere near RSV in quality.

It is a cool little vineyard, though.

23

HAHAHAHAHA!
I could live with that if they were Comte Liger Belair good, since there isn’t enough as it is :slight_smile:

24

Agree, had Lamarche and Cacheux La Croix Rameau several times - and no RSV experience … not nearly.
I could compare it with a good Suchots … with a bit more structure.
There is a 3rd producer, Coudray-Bizot, but I´ve never ever seen a bottle.

25

A few years ago I did some reading about Grande Rue and for county-employee me, made a huge buy of the 2005 (six bottles). From what I’ve read, 2005 and 2009 LGR are great, especially 2005, while the rest, going way back in time and also more recently, are not for me to chase. I’ve read that the daughter’s involvement has been a big improvement and the 2005 is her greatest wine so far. I’m glad to hear the 2003 showed well because I believe that is the first vintage that bears her stamp.

My one shot at the Lamarche 2009 Croix Rameau was disappointing enough where I lost all interest in that vineyard despite how good it looks on a map.

Thank you for the great notes on this very rare and very helpful tasting.

26

The 2014 La Grande Rue was absolutely stunning albeit very young when tasted last year. In general, I think the quality of the wines have improved dramatically but the prices reflect this even when normalised against the past 10 years of price hikes. I went through a number of bottles of 2000 Clos Vougeot and Echezeaux which were fine but aren’t at the quality of the wines the domaine is making today.

27

I think you are absolutely correct. Despite it’s proximity to RSV, it tastes nothing like it. And generally speaking, it does taste a lot more like Suchots.

I’ve had all 3, and frankly, none, including Lamarche, are worth sticking your neck out on the line to recommend. The CB is definitely the least accomplished of the 3.

28

I had the '99 a couple years ago and I wholly concur that its aging has been disappointing, to say the least. In 2005, I thought it was a pretty medium-to-long haul wine, but that was wrong. Very generic aged Pinot.

  • 1999 Domaine Francois Lamarche La Grande Rue - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Grande Rue Grand Cru (1/8/2016)
    Meh. My assessment from 10 yrs ago about this aging has been shown to be wrong. Generically aged Pinot w/o GC weight or any special characteristics.
  • 1999 Domaine Francois Lamarche La Grande Rue - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Grande Rue Grand Cru (9/10/2005)
    Cleveland Offline (Lockkeeper’s): Opened with some violet and sous-bois on the nose. Soft fruit with nice acidity and a bright berry note. Almost immediately slammed shut and revealed very little, progressing into olive-like notes. Still showed a great structural core. I see a strong upside in at least 15 yrs.

Posted from CellarTracker

29

Lamarche is one of the very, very few domaines with good holdings and producing decent wines that has maintained sensible pricing over the last few vintages. I bought a fair bit of their wines since 2013 as they’ve consistently shown very well at the London ep tastings.

30

Barry,
I really appreciate your tasting notes, especially since you don’t seem swayed by label/vintage reputations.

Unfortunately for me, the '99 is the only La Grande Rue that I own. I too was surprised by the TN that suggested a potentially early demise. [swearing.gif] And damn you too Andrew for your honest assessment. [cheers.gif]
Regards,
Peter

31

The 2009 La Grande Rue was indeed outstanding and a worthy Grand Cru - but several vintages from 1990 to 2005 were rather disapointing - at least for the GC status.
Hopefully this producer is eventually improving.

32

Quality jumped when the daughter took over in 2007. Before that, hit and miss at best.

33

If that’s accurate, then the 2005 is an outlier, where the old administration overachieved. I am suspicious of super-delicious 2003’s.

34

That’s what I have been told by my merchant but I thought the daughter took over starting 2006 vintage.

Bought a few vintages during EP post ‘05 but stopped when prices sky-rocketed.

2006 LGR was very very good when opened a few years ago and that was the wine that got me interested in this producer.

35

Isn’t it the niece that’s actually making the wine, and the daughter is running the estate?

36

Being diplomatic, I would simply say that I believe the talk of improvement is somewhat exaggerated. And if you take a look at the vineyards before harvest time you will see why. Based on the current market price, if I owned any of this domaine’s wines, I would sell them.

37

I think “style shift” may be more appropriate.

38

Based on barry’s Notes there are a lot of 93

39

That’s useful. I have a few bottles of 2010 Suchots and Malconsorts, bought at very attractive prices at the time. The $$ these wines fetch now (though not outrageous) would buy some nice wines.

40

In the 2014 vintage Nicole Lamarche also produced a special cuvée of La Grande Rue called Cuvée 1959 from a plot with old vines exchanged with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1959. An experiment to harvest, vinify and age the grapes coming from the vines of this unique parcel separately from the ones originating from the rest of La Grande Rue vineyard. This practice will be followed in future vintages, with a maximum production of two barrels per vintage.