Domaine Larue

The domaine is a relatively young one, with the third generation only just taking over from their fathers. It was founded shortly after the Second World War in 1946 by Guy Larue in the small hamlet of Gamay, which lends its name to the 1er Cru Sur Gamay that rises up from the main street. Guy’s son, Denis took over in 1976 and was himself joined by his younger brother, Didier, 6 years later. The two of them drove the domaine forward with purpose and made a name for themselves for making well made, great value whites.

In 2006, Denis’s son, Bruno, joined the team and, more recently, Didier’s son, Vivien, joined, too, with the two cousins now ready to succeed their fathers when the time comes. They have a large and very smart new winery at their disposal now and the construction of this really helped take the wines to a new level, there being so much more space to do things when they needed doing rather than when lack of space dictated.

 The red wines have really evolved a lot, too, in recent years and are well worth seeking out. Quite a bit of whole bunch is used on some of the cuvées and they now tend to have a lovely succulence and approachability that their predecessors didn’t. Today, the domaine totals 17 hectares, with roughly a 70/30 split of Chardonnay to Pinot.