Domaine François Lamarche
2015 Vosne-Romanée “La Croix Rameau”1er Cru Red barrel
Score: 90-92
Tasted: Jan 15, 2017
Drink: 2022+
Issue: 65
Producer note: Nicole Lamarche told me that they began picking the 2015 crop “on the 10th of September and brought in very super-clean and very ripe fruit. It was nerve wracking though because we had the sugar ripeness but I wanted to be sure that we also obtained the phenolic maturity that I wanted without losing the acidity. I finally decided that by the 10th the fruit had a good blend of all three and happily we were able to pick very quickly because the fruit was so clean. Yields were actually a bit better than they were in 2014, which is to say around 35 hl/ha. Potential alcohols were solid but not really high at between 12.5 and 13.2 %. I used about 30% whole clusters for all wines and because the skins were actually relatively thick due to the summer heat, I was very careful with the punch downs as it would have been easy to extract too much structure. I like the 2015s a lot, not only because the wines are good but they’re a completely different expression compared to 2013 and 2014. Basically I like all three vintages but for different reasons as each of them has their unique appeal.” I found the Lamarche 2015s to depart somewhat from the typical pattern I discovered elsewhere. This is to say that the real strength of their line-up is in the grands crus whereas often in 2015 it is the entry level wines that outperform. To be sure, the range of regional wines offers solid quality as well though I found the 1ers, Malconsorts and Suchots aside, to be of average quality in the context of the vintage. By the way, I was also very impressed by the quality of the three 2014s that I retasted and which had been bottled in March and April 2016. 2015 will mark the second vintage for the new cuvée of La Grande Rue that is called 1959. To provide some background on how it came to be, Nicole Lamarche said that she had read the chapter on La Grande Rue in my book The Pearl of the Côte and in it I describe how in 1959 there was an exchange of vineyards between the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Domaine Lamarche. I paraphrase from my book to explain why: “In order to have contiguous and more coherently organized vineyards, Domaine François Lamarche and the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti exchanged a number of tiny parcels. Domaine Lamarche traded seven parcels of Les Gaudichots, totaling .0186 ha, plus two parcels of the Echézeaux climat Clos Saint-Denis, totaling .0283 ha, for a grand total of .0469 ha. The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti contributed three parcels of La Grande Rue, totaling .1013 ha, plus .0048 ha of Les Gaudichots, for a grand total of .1061 ha. Despite the mild disparity in surface area, vintners Henry Lamarche and Henri-Gaudin de Villaine declared the combined parcels to be of equal value and exchanged no money.” Nicole Lamarche realized that the exchanged parcels of Les Gaudichots were planted in 1933 and had never been replanted since. As such she had the idea of isolating the fruit from these parcels to see what quality might be obtained. She purports to have been so happy with it that it was worth bottling it separately and this is how the new wine was created. Lamarche also noted that it will continue to be isolated each year in which there is a noticeable difference between it and the regular cuvée. (Jeanne-Marie de Champs, www.ds-collection.com, NY, NY is the agent with many regional importers, including Burgundy Wine Company, www.burgundywinecompany.com, NY, NY, and Glazer’s, www.glazers.com, Dallas, TX, PA; Bibendum Wine Ltd., www.bibendum-wine.co.uk, Goedhuis & Co., www.goedhuis.com, Laytons, www.laytons.co.uk, Berry Brothers & Rudd, www.bbr.com, www.r-w.co.uk, Fields, Morris & Verdin, www.fmvwines.com, The Wine Society, www.thewinesociety.com, Seckford Wines, www.seckfordwines.co.uk and Raeburn Fine Wines, www.raeburnfinewines.com, Edinburgh, all UK; L’Imperatrice Fine Wines, www.imperatrice.com.hk, Hong Kong/China).
Tasting note: A spicy, cool and somewhat restrained nose features notes of pomegranate, cherry, lilac and violet, all of which is trimmed in a background application of wood. Here too the middle weight flavors possess a supple mid-palate that contrasts with a moderately firm finale. This refined effort is on the lighter side but it’s both complex and well-balanced.
Domaine Francois Lamarche, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, Les Suchots
US$1,300 / 每箱價格
Domaine François Lamarche
2015 Vosne-Romanée “La Croix Rameau”1er Cru Red barrel
Score: 90-92
Tasted: Jan 15, 2017
Drink: 2022+
Issue: 65
Producer note: Nicole Lamarche told me that they began picking the 2015 crop “on the 10th of September and brought in very super-clean and very ripe fruit. It was nerve wracking though because we had the sugar ripeness but I wanted to be sure that we also obtained the phenolic maturity that I wanted without losing the acidity. I finally decided that by the 10th the fruit had a good blend of all three and happily we were able to pick very quickly because the fruit was so clean. Yields were actually a bit better than they were in 2014, which is to say around 35 hl/ha. Potential alcohols were solid but not really high at between 12.5 and 13.2 %. I used about 30% whole clusters for all wines and because the skins were actually relatively thick due to the summer heat, I was very careful with the punch downs as it would have been easy to extract too much structure. I like the 2015s a lot, not only because the wines are good but they’re a completely different expression compared to 2013 and 2014. Basically I like all three vintages but for different reasons as each of them has their unique appeal.” I found the Lamarche 2015s to depart somewhat from the typical pattern I discovered elsewhere. This is to say that the real strength of their line-up is in the grands crus whereas often in 2015 it is the entry level wines that outperform. To be sure, the range of regional wines offers solid quality as well though I found the 1ers, Malconsorts and Suchots aside, to be of average quality in the context of the vintage. By the way, I was also very impressed by the quality of the three 2014s that I retasted and which had been bottled in March and April 2016. 2015 will mark the second vintage for the new cuvée of La Grande Rue that is called 1959. To provide some background on how it came to be, Nicole Lamarche said that she had read the chapter on La Grande Rue in my book The Pearl of the Côte and in it I describe how in 1959 there was an exchange of vineyards between the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Domaine Lamarche. I paraphrase from my book to explain why: “In order to have contiguous and more coherently organized vineyards, Domaine François Lamarche and the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti exchanged a number of tiny parcels. Domaine Lamarche traded seven parcels of Les Gaudichots, totaling .0186 ha, plus two parcels of the Echézeaux climat Clos Saint-Denis, totaling .0283 ha, for a grand total of .0469 ha. The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti contributed three parcels of La Grande Rue, totaling .1013 ha, plus .0048 ha of Les Gaudichots, for a grand total of .1061 ha. Despite the mild disparity in surface area, vintners Henry Lamarche and Henri-Gaudin de Villaine declared the combined parcels to be of equal value and exchanged no money.” Nicole Lamarche realized that the exchanged parcels of Les Gaudichots were planted in 1933 and had never been replanted since. As such she had the idea of isolating the fruit from these parcels to see what quality might be obtained. She purports to have been so happy with it that it was worth bottling it separately and this is how the new wine was created. Lamarche also noted that it will continue to be isolated each year in which there is a noticeable difference between it and the regular cuvée. (Jeanne-Marie de Champs, www.ds-collection.com, NY, NY is the agent with many regional importers, including Burgundy Wine Company, www.burgundywinecompany.com, NY, NY, and Glazer’s, www.glazers.com, Dallas, TX, PA; Bibendum Wine Ltd., www.bibendum-wine.co.uk, Goedhuis & Co., www.goedhuis.com, Laytons, www.laytons.co.uk, Berry Brothers & Rudd, www.bbr.com, www.r-w.co.uk, Fields, Morris & Verdin, www.fmvwines.com, The Wine Society, www.thewinesociety.com, Seckford Wines, www.seckfordwines.co.uk and Raeburn Fine Wines, www.raeburnfinewines.com, Edinburgh, all UK; L’Imperatrice Fine Wines, www.imperatrice.com.hk, Hong Kong/China).
Tasting note: A spicy, cool and somewhat restrained nose features notes of pomegranate, cherry, lilac and violet, all of which is trimmed in a background application of wood. Here too the middle weight flavors possess a supple mid-palate that contrasts with a moderately firm finale. This refined effort is on the lighter side but it’s both complex and well-balanced.
