Log in for prices and ordering
The 1.65-hectare La Grande Rue vineyard dates to the 15th century and it’s the second smallest of the Vosne Grands Crus, after La Romanée. It’s enviably situated, directly bordering La Tâche to the south (it is in fact a continuation of this vineyard) and La Romanée-Conti, La Romanée and Romanée-Saint-Vivant to the north. The site first came into Lamarche hands in 1933 and it has been a monopole for the family ever since.
This can be thought of as a prettier, more delicate version of La Tâche but I think it actually comes closer to its northern neighbours in style, as Clive Coates suggests: “La Grande Rue, in my view, is a more feminine wine than La Tâche. It is closer to Romanée-Saint-Vivant.” Allen Meadows also writes (in The Pearl of the Côte) that the wine’s aging potential most closely mirrors that of Romanée-Saint-Vivant. As always though, comparisons are problematic—La Grande Rue clearly has its own personality. It is also clearly a site of great class: when you taste this wine next to the same producer’s Echézeaux, Grands Echézeaux and Clos de Vougeot (which are themselves superb examples of their respective Grand Cru vineyards), the sheer class and depth of La Grande Rue are self-evident.