2021 Echézeaux Grand Cru

Domaine Nicole Lamarche hit the headlines last year after it was announced that it would be split between Nicole Lamarche and her cousin Nathalie Lamarche, whose holdings entered into a métayage agreement with Domaine Comte de Liger-Belair. “It was a challenging season,” Nicole Lamarche tells me, “60% to 70% down compared to usual. We started the picking on 18 September. Everything is de-stemmed, and the wines are aged in around one-third new oak. I think it’s an earlier drinking vintage of elegance and finesse, but the wines can also age.” Lamarche’s wines have always erred towards the more ethereal side of Pinot Noir, often to great success, yet in 2021, I feel that some of them are too light and ephemeral at the cost of terroir identity. They are perfectly pleasurable, but, with one or two exceptions, lack body and grip. As such, they will mostly be capable of giving early to mid-term pleasure while waiting for their 2020s to mature.