Domaine Nicole Lamarche

Ancestors of the Lamarche family were already established in Vosne-Romanée around 1740, and the domaine traces its roots to 1797. The estate itself was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century by Henri Lamarche, a cooper, who married Marie Grivelet from Chambolle-Musigny; he produced, matured and sold his wines directly from the estate. Their son Henri Lamarche (1903-1985) took over the estate and inherited La Grande Rue in 1933, the year of his marriage to Aline Demur. They had four children, including François and Geneviève. François Lamarche, the fifth generation of the family to farm the domaine's vines, took over the estate in 1985.

• Lamarche ancestors established in Vosne-Romanée around 1740; domaine roots traced to 1797
• Estate founded at the beginning of the twentieth century by Henri Lamarche, a cooper, and Marie Grivelet
• Henri Lamarche (1903-1985) inherited La Grande Rue in 1933
• François Lamarche, fifth generation, took over in 1985

On the domaine's website of the 2000s, François Lamarche was in charge of the winemaking and his wife Marie-Blanche of sales; his sister Geneviève managed the accounts, his daughter Nicole was taking over the viticulture and winemaking, and Geneviève's daughter Nathalie handled sales. As of 2009, the sixth generation was taking over, with Nathalie responsible for sales and Nicole for the vineyards and cellar. Nicole Lamarche took over the winemaking when her father retired in 2007. François Lamarche (d. 2013) was followed in the direction of the family estate by Nicole and her cousin Nathalie. In July 2019 the labels changed to carry Nicole's name instead of François's. As of the 2022 vintage, Nicole Lamarche leads the domaine's winemaking.

• Nicole Lamarche took over the winemaking in 2007, when her father retired
• François Lamarche (d. 2013); Nicole and her cousin Nathalie then directed the family estate
• Labels changed from François to Nicole Lamarche in July 2019
• As of the 2022 vintage, Nicole Lamarche leads the winemaking

La Grande Rue is a Grand Cru appellation of the Côte de Nuits, producing only red wine from Pinot Noir in the commune of Vosne-Romanée, which counts six Grands Crus. It covers 1.65 hectares and is a singly held vineyard, owned by the Lamarche family alone, and its vines sit between Romanée-Conti and La Tâche. The INAO announced on 14 November 1989 its decision that La Grande Rue should be promoted from Premier Cru to Grand Cru; the official decree was signed on 2 July 1992, and the change is retroactive. La Tâche and La Grande Rue share brown limestone soils, rather shallow at the top end with deeper rendzinas lower down, over hard Premeaux limestone from the Jurassic. The domaine's own information sheet gave an average vine age of 30 years and an average yield of at most 32 hectolitres per hectare. Since the 2014 vintage the domaine has also made La Grande Rue Cuvée 1959, named for the date of an exchange of vines between the domaine and the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti; in 2017 it was fermented with 50 percent whole clusters.

• Grand Cru, red only, Pinot Noir; 1.65 hectares; singly held by the Lamarche family
• Lies between Romanée-Conti and La Tâche
• INAO promotion decided 14 November 1989; decree signed 2 July 1992
• Brown limestone soils, shallow at the top and deeper rendzinas lower down, over Premeaux limestone
• Cuvée 1959: first vintage 2014, named for a 1959 vine exchange with the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

In 2009 the domaine farmed 11 hectares across 14 appellations, 8 hectares owned and the rest on long-term leases. Beside La Grande Rue (1.65 hectares), the holdings then were Clos de Vougeot (1.35 hectares, three parcels blended), Grands-Échezeaux (0.31 hectares, adjoining a Drouhin parcel), Échezeaux (1.35 hectares, from the Cruots and Clos St.Denis climats), the Vosne-Romanée Premiers Crus La Croix Rameau (0.21), Les Malconsorts (0.50), Les Chaumes (0.56) and Les Suchots (0.58), and Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Cras (0.38), first vinified at the domaine in 2006, together with village Vosne-Romanée and regional wines. In 2019 Nicole Lamarche spoke of harvesting the domaine's whole 11.5 hectares. At the end of 2021 it was announced that Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair would farm the vines belonging to Nathalie Pacareau, and those vines moved to Liger-Belair from the start of 2022. They total more than 2.5 hectares: more than a hectare of Grand Cru, including Clos de Vougeot near the château, Grands-Échezeaux and Échezeaux in Champs Traversins, and another hectare of Premier Cru, including Les Suchots, Les Malconsorts and La Croix Rameau. Under the Domaine Nicole Lamarche name, the 2022 wines include La Grande Rue, Échezeaux, Clos de Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots and village Vosne-Romanée.

• 2009: 11 hectares, 14 appellations, 8 hectares owned and the rest leased
• From 2022: Nathalie Pacareau's vines, more than 2.5 hectares, farmed by Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
• Vines that moved include parcels in Clos de Vougeot, Grands-Échezeaux, Échezeaux, Les Suchots, Les Malconsorts and La Croix Rameau
• 2022 wines under the Nicole Lamarche name include La Grande Rue, Échezeaux, Clos de Vougeot, Les Suchots and Vosne-Romanée

The grapes are harvested by hand and sorted by the pickers in the vineyard, then over a vibrating table and a second sorting table. As of 2009 they were predominantly destemmed, with perhaps as much as 20 percent of stems retained for the Grands Crus, and fermented without crushing in thermo-regulated open-top vats of oak and stainless steel, with 15 to 18 days of fermentation and all movement of wine by gravity. The domaine avoids chaptalisation as much as possible and did not use it in 2002, 2003 or 2005. The wines were matured in barrels of Vosges and Allier oak; typically no fining or filtering is done except for the regional wines, and everything is bottled at the domaine. In 2017 every wine except the Cuvée 1959 was fermented with 30 percent whole clusters, even the Passetoutgrains. In 2019 the domaine made a maximum of 60,000 bottles a year, and by 2021 it had an amphora and a Côte de Nuits Villages Blanc. Nicole Lamarche told Burgundy Report in 2019: 'I work a lot on the skin tannins, I want them to be round, it's the style that I prefer to make.' Reviewing the 2022s for Decanter, Charles Curtis MW wrote that La Grande Rue 'has always been the pride of the cellar, justifiably so under Nicole Lamarche.'

• Hand harvest with sorting in the vineyard and on two sorting tables
• Mostly destemmed as of 2009; 30 percent whole clusters across the 2017 range, 50 percent for the Cuvée 1959
• Chaptalisation avoided; none in 2002, 2003 or 2005
• Typically no fining or filtering except the regional wines; all bottled at the domaine
• Maximum of 60,000 bottles a year as of 2019

Primary sources (the domaine's website at www.domaine-lamarche.com, read in archived copies): http://web.archive.org/web/20210127010541/http://domaine-lamarche.com/pages/domaine_intro.php?lang=en, http://web.archive.org/web/20210731032704/http://domaine-lamarche.com/pages/domaine_histoire.php?lang=en, http://web.archive.org/web/20210731014641/http://domaine-lamarche.com/pages/domaine_vignoble.php?lang=en, http://web.archive.org/web/20201124173403/http://domaine-lamarche.com/pages/vins_appellations.php?lang=en, http://web.archive.org/web/20210918165335/http://domaine-lamarche.com/pages/vins_recolte.php?lang=en, http://web.archive.org/web/20210918174357/http://domaine-lamarche.com/pages/vins-fiches.php?rub=vins&lang=en&vin=grande_rue. Official body: Bourgogne Wines (BIVB), La Grande Rue appellation page. Secondary sources: Burgundy Report (2009 profile and visit reports of 2018, 2019 and 2021; news posts of July and December 2021) and Decanter (Charles Curtis MW, published 15 October 2023 and last updated 28 November 2024; Decanter wine reviews, tasted 2 November 2023). Last verified 2026-10-19.