Nicole Lamarche
Burgundy
Côte de Nuits
Domaine Lamarche was run by François Lamarche and his wife, Marie-Blanche, from the death of François’s father, Henri, in 1985 until François’s retirement in 2006. Nicole Lamarche had already joined the domaine in 2003 after completing her diploma in oenology and gradually assumed responsibility for both the vineyards and the cellar. From the 2018 vintage onwards, she officially renamed the estate Nicole Lamarche, reflecting the new generation now at its helm.
The impressive vineyard portfolio of this historic domaine was assembled over three generations of the Lamarche family, whose roots in Vosne-Romanée date back to the late nineteenth century. Most of the estate’s vineyards are located in Vosne-Romanée. The jewel in the crown is the monopole vineyard of La Grande Rue, a 1.65 ha parcel sandwiched between Romanée-Conti and La Romanée to the north and La Tâche to the south. Interestingly, this exceptional vineyard was granted Grand Cru status only in 1992. It had been excluded from the original 1936 classification, reportedly for fiscal reasons, despite being surrounded entirely by Grand Cru vineyards. La Grande Rue is the second-smallest Grand Cru in the Côte d’Or, surpassed only by La Romanée (0.85 ha). Securing Grand Cru recognition was a lengthy process, and for many years the wines did not consistently live up to the reputation of their illustrious neighbours, largely because of outdated vineyard management and winemaking practices.
The domaine’s holdings also include excellent parcels in Grands Échezeaux, Échezeaux, and Clos de Vougeot, the latter comprising three separate parcels spread across different sectors of the Clos, giving the wine notable complexity. The Premier Cru portfolio is equally impressive, featuring Les Suchots, Les Chaumes, La Croix Rameau, and, more recently, Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Cras.
Revitalising the estate required years of patient work. Improvements became noticeable with the 1999 vintage and accelerated significantly after Nicole joined the domaine in 2003. Since assuming full control in 2006, she has transformed both the vineyards and the cellar according to her own philosophy. Vineyard practices have progressively moved towards sustainable and organic cultivation, with meticulous attention paid to lowering yields and achieving optimal fruit quality. In the winery, fermentation is now gentler and less extractive, the cooperage has been completely reassessed, and the proportion of new oak has been reduced to preserve fruit purity and vineyard expression (typically no more than 50% for the Grand Crus, depending on the vintage). Modernisation of the cellar and stricter selection of fruit have further elevated the quality of the wines.
Today, Nicole Lamarche ranks among the leading estates of Vosne-Romanée. The wines are admired for their purity, finesse and transparency of terroir rather than sheer power or extraction. The transformation has been widely recognised by critics. As Clive Coates MW wrote in My Favourite Burgundies: “This is now a three-star domaine!”.
