2023 Burgundy: Domaine Sylvain Cathiard

January 10, 2025

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard most certainly deserves its high reputation for the astonishing quality and terroir expression realised by the eponymous Sylvain Cathiard in his range of Premiers Crus in Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St Georges (amongst other wines). There is similarly little doubt that his son, Sebastien, has further fine-tuned these already beautiful wines. Sebastien has pushed some boundaries and has learnt quickly in the recent hot and dry vintages. The learning outcomes are clearly evident in these 2023s and I would have to agree with Steen Ohman, quoted above.

What is perhaps most interesting is that Sebastien has expanded the domaine with now not insignificant holdings in the Hautes Côtes de Nuits. The hills above Nuits-St Georges have become an area of keen interest to many forward-thinking producers. Here they can craft wines that retain a cooler fruit profile in the warmer conditions. Since the 2019 vintage Sebastien has been applying his skill and expertise in these increasingly valued terroirs. In much the same way that the domaine has highlighted for many years the different typicities of adjoining Vosne Crus, so Sebastian is now starting to showcase the variety and typicity of a number of Hautes Côtes crus.

Chaumes and Les Dames Huguette show, with increasing clarity, the distinct and distinctive terroirs of these two adjoining but different vineyards. More recently there is a straight Hautes Côtes de Nuits, which is almost entirely from the cru Pièce Dame Marie, a single vineyard in the centre of Villars-La-Faye, where Sebastien lives; it cannot be labelled as such since it also contains a tiny amount of wine from two other vineyards.

Pièce Dame Marie, just like the other two other parcels in Villars-La-Faye, has deep soils with a reasonably high proportion of clay which lends itself to a 'gourmand' style of wine - flowing, harmonious, pure fruited. Chaumes has a small amount of clay but predominantly limestone soils and is situated on a plateau above the stretch of some of the greatest Nuits-St Georges Premiers Crus from Les Pruliers to Les Saint Georges itself. Les Dames Huguette is an extension of Chaumes as it begins to drop down the slope to these same vineyards. The soils of Les Dames Huguette are poorer and thinner still than those of Chaumes and thus yield wines of pronounced mineral tension, while the character of Chaumes sits somewhere between the other two Hautes Côtes cuvees.

In short, these three wines are a testament to the long-standing Cathiard commitment to exposing the character of a given vineyard and expressing it in wines of immense pleasure and drinkability with all the hallmark pristine fruit and silky texture we have come to expect. Chapeau! as they say.

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Coteaux Bourguignon, Les Croix Blanches 2023
£180 per 6 bottle case in bond
Gently creamy berry fruit on nose and into palate. Supple, clean, fresh, with a lovely chalky touch to the finish. (ROM) Drink 2026-2029

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Bourgogne Rouge 2023
£240 per 6 bottle case in bond
Vibrant, crunchy red fruit. Chalky mineral white stone touch at end. Gently juicy and showing lovely balance and harmony. (ROM) Drink 2026-2029

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits 2023
£255 per 6 bottle case in bond
Beautifully clean, fresh red fruit with appealing notes of spice too. The fruit vibrancy carries through to the palate, where it is underpinned by a gently balancing mineral touch. There is an overriding sense of harmony in this cuvee that shows the benefits of its Hautes Côtes location in these warmer vintages in achieving a cool ripeness and a seamless drinkability. A fine illustration of the Cathiard style. (ROM) Drink 2026-2032

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Aux Chaumes 2023
£270 per 6 bottle case in bond
Fresh red fruit on the nose and a more mouth-filling, palate-coating texture with a juicy red fruit length. Lovely ripe, grippy tannins support the good core of elegant fruit behind. This and the Dames Huguette are really now finding their feet in their fifth vintage under Sebastien. (ROM) Drink 2027-2033

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Les Dames Huguette 2023
£280 per 6 bottle case in bond
More floral and with a sense of white stones. The palate continues in this vein, showing in a more tensile way than the other two Hautes Côtes wines. Here instead there is a gravelly grip and a saline length to the red fruit. A distinctly more mineral and linear style than the broader, more supple Chaumes, though both now showing the impact of Sebastien’s attention to detail. (ROM) Drink 2027-2033

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Gevrey-Chambertin 2023
£450 per 6 bottle case in bond
One third of a hectare. First vintage 2019. Pure fruit profile with dark, forest fruit to the fore. Purity on the palate with grippy, pippy dark berry fruit as well as a lighter flowing touch of redder fruits. Fine balance and fluidity with a perfect cut of gravelly stony tannins at the end. Such poise. (ROM) Drink 2027-2035

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne-Romanée 2023
£510 per 6 bottle case in bond
There is an immediate sense of poise and elegance in this village Vosne. Red and black fruit with a silky flow to the palate. Such wonderful balance and drinkability. There is an even greater sense of fruit purity than usual for this cuvee and a fine mineral persistence, which nevertheless allows the fruit to shine. (ROM) Drink 2027-2035

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Chambolle-Musigny, Les Clos de l’Orme 2023
£540 per 6 bottle case in bond
Beautifully fragrant red fruit with floral cherry notes. The palate shows such purity and elegance – flowing, balanced, fresh, long. Ripe red fruit returns on the finish. Crystalline. (ROM) Drink 2027-2035

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Nuits-St Georges 1er Cru, Aux Thorey 2023
£970 per 6 bottle case in bond
Classic Thorey in an elegant vein. Pure, well-defined and -expressed red fruit. Seamless flow through the palate with the lean, taut, mineral drive at the end. A gentle, juicy dimension comes back at the end with a mouthwatering red fruit and saline quality. A really fine Thorey. (ROM) Drink 2028-2040

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Nuits-St Georges 1er Cru, Aux Murgers 2023
£1,050 per 6 bottle case in bond
While the fruit here is currently restrained and contained, it is pure, ripe and healthy. The mid-palate is flowing and elegantly expressed. The finish nevertheless has all the power of the site and incredible persistence. This is a very fine Murgers, balancing power and poise in an exemplary Nuits-St Georges 1er Cru. (ROM) Drink 2028-2040

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru, Aux Reignots 2023
£1,950 per 6 bottle case in bond
There is a cool sense of ripeness to the Reignots with fine, focused red fruit. The palate shows a concentration of juicy fruit and there is an incredible mineral precision. This is taut but not lean. Mouthwatering and moreish, displaying fine fruit concentration and persistence. (ROM) Drink 2028-2043

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru, En Orveaux 2023
£1,950 per 6 bottle case in bond
The nose shows the ripeness and concentration of the old vines of this parcel. There is a spicy touch too. So mineral and deeply yet restrainedly powerful. Such controlled power and persistent mineral presence. (ROM) Drink 2028-2045

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru, Les Suchots 2023
£2,250 per 6 bottle case in bond
The nose intimates a richness and voluptuousness of style. The palate delivers. There is a wealth and breadth of velvet-textured red and darker berry fruit. This is all about the texture and is supported by long, fine, ripe tannins. (ROM) Drink 2028-2045

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru, Aux Malconsorts 2023
£2,850 per 6 bottle case in bond
The nose shows a restraint of red fruit – concentrated, pure, mineral. A subtly juicy and mouthwatering palate of ripe fruit is carried by a saline, gently mineral persistence. It is the length that sets this apart and confirm its status of first among equals. Beautifully ripe, integrated tannins. Not a hard edge in sight despite an underlying power. (ROM) Drink 2028-2045

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Romanée-St Vivant Grand Cru 2023
£3,600 per 3 bottle case in bond
On the nose, there is an immediate sense of a profoundly deep fruit core. This follows through to the palate, where there is a density and intensity to the fruit that is clearly Grand Cru. The tannins are powerful yet ripe and integrated giving a balanced mineral grip. Tensile yet generous. Mineral yet fruit laden. (ROM) Drink 2028-2048

Please also be aware that these wines are only available in very, very limited quantities and that demand outstrips supply by a significant percentage each year, with long-standing followers prioritised. Nevertheless, please do let us know of your interest and we will do our best to help you acquire some wines of this highly-respected domaine.

Richard O'Mahony, January 2025

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Top tips and conclusions from the Atlas Big Barolo Bash

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The 2019s were a last-minute addition and were the two single vineyard wines of Andrea Bosco which offered an opportunity to compare a Barolo from the lighter soils of Verduno with a richer wine from La Morra; respectively, the wonderfully refined Agostino Bosco, Barolo, Neirane and the darker, brooding Agostino Bosco, Barolo, La Serra. Clients seemed interested in how these two most recent vintages would shape up in time. While the 2019s are the product of hot year, these showed how that vintage manages to show a certain classicism. They will warrant 8 to 10 years in bottle before showing in their prime. In contrast, the 2018s, with their lighter accent, are already starting to show well, even if some of the leading examples will still demand 4- or 5-years patience before really starting to sing. The 2017 table was, for me personally, one of the most fascinating. Not only were some of the region’s most notable growers featured in this line up, but it showcased a vintage that I fear has been a little overlooked. 2017 was a hot and dry vintage and in an earlier era I don’t believe the wines would have come through as well as they have. Growers have had to adapt to modern day conditions in Barolo; whatever way you cut it, this is down to climate change. As I remarked to various clients, in the 1990s there were perhaps three notable vintages which delivered ripe fruit and fine structure, other vintages in which many growers lost precision and freshness in their wines but a greater number of years in which it proved tough to ripen Nebbiolo fully. Leaf-plucking became routine to expose the fruit to the sun and allow aeration. Rolling the clock forward, between 2010 and 2020 we have not had a bad vintage. There have been challenging conditions, but we have had four great vintages - 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019. Then there have been some more mixed years, but ones in which good growers have nevertheless excelled. Today it is more about providing some protection to the fruit, as opposed to exposing it. This is quite an incredible switch around to have occurred in just 20 years. Growers have needed to learn fast – to learn how to prepare their vineyards for the modern-day challenges of heat and drought, when not so very long ago, the challenge was inclement weather. 2017 is a successful hot vintage, particularly given there were four months in the growing season without any rain. The cooler weather at harvest really assisted in providing freshness to the aromatics and brightness to the fruit; this was notably evident in the selection of 2017s at the tasting. The two wines from Brovia were just beautiful; both the Brea ‘Vigna Ca Mia’ and the Villero were way ahead of the quality that a reading of the vintage reports might suggest possible. Instead we found pure fruit, refined tannins, glossy textures and a complex amalgam of fruit nuances and tertiary notes. Equally compelling were the duo from Poderi Oddero. In the amazingly graceful Vigna Rionda, from one of the region’s finest terroir, Oddero has crafted a genuine beauty in 2017 and I would suggest it isn’t far removed from the quality they delivered in the tremendous 2016 vintage; this should be a wine on your watch list if you a fan of the finest Barolo. The Bussia Vigna Mondoca showed in a similarly impressive manner; Bussia, in Monforte d’Alba, is a controversially large cru but when you taste wines of this calibre, there is no doubting that it has the potential to rank highly, depending on the exact location of the vines within the . Very rich, with a deep damson, plum quality to the fruit and hints of spice, this rich Barolo will demand patience, even in a year like 2017 where some wines are starting to drink. In this latter category, we would place Vietti’s reliable Castiglione blend and, surprisingly, Vajra’s 2017 Ravera, which seems to show very little of the austerity that is more typical of this cool, elevated Novello cru. The 2016 table certainly drew considerable attention, as clients were aware that this vintage is considered to be one of the all-time greats. The 2016 vintage represented the perfect growing season with no excesses or problematic weather. These wines have such appealing fruit and fine tannin that a number show that they are already approachable though even the humblest from this vintage have ageing potential. The table was manned by Atlas’ Nick Pitcher, who commented that clients were impressed by the 2016 Barolo del Comune di La Morra from Renato Corino on account of its expansive, rounded fruit. 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Then finally, we had a mixed table spanning the vintages from 2015 back to 2011, manned by Atlas’ Toby Herbertson. This table was a real draw as it allowed clients some insight into how Barolo ages; this was very much needed as some clients weren’t particularly familiar with the region. Some clients started tasting here, which might not have made it easier to move onto younger wines thereafter. The ability to compare wines from the same growers in 2011 and 2012 fascinated people and both vintages impressed. 2011 is one of those vintages that is starting to drink really well – it was a hot vintage, by the standards of that point in time, but it was wonderful to see how, if anything, the wines seem to have picked up a little more precision as they have aged. Both the Sandrone Cannubi Boschis 2011 and the Vietti Ravera 2011 found favour. The 2012 Sandrone, Le Vigne, shows just how well Sandrone adapt to vintage conditions. The 2013 Cappellano Pie Rupestris was very popular on the night; clients were impressed by the complexity and quality, though some struggled to spot the value in contrast to other wines shown. The conversation surrounding this table focused on when Barolo tannins start to soften and when wines come on stream for drinking. The lighter framed 2014s were up against it, sandwiched as they were between the more tannic 2013s and the bolder, richer 2015s. That said, many clients commented on the attractive nature of Vajra’s 2014 Ravera, which, like the 2017 of the same wine, showed in a forward drinking manner with a dark, glossy fruit, floral aromas and hints of spice. Indeed, all Vajra’s wines were complimented for their accessibility and the purity of the fruit. Finally, the two 2015s proved fascinating to taste. Giovanni Rosso’s Cerretta shows just why there is excitement brewing about this estate. It captured a flinty mineral note that added complexity to a rich palate of dark, slightly brooding fruit, while the tannins were finely expressed and far less obtrusive as they can be in young wines from this Serralunga d’Alba-based cru. Vietti’s inaugural Riserva also attracted plenty of attention; the extra ageing having softened and rounded out the tannins.All in all, the evening was a great success and we have received many positive comments on the venue and the format. We will certainly be running another event at this venue in the New Year.My final thoughts concern the way in which things have evolved in Piemonte. Climate change has meant that Barolo vintages face few of the pitfalls they once did. Instead, there are different challenges, more often than not related to heat and drought. In rapid time, growers have adapted in both the vineyard and cellar to meet these challenges, and today, I would argue, Barolo is one of the most consistent wine regions in Europe. There is just so much to explore, different crus with different altitudes, exposures and soils, as well as producers who employ different techniques. Without doubt, Nebbiolo is a sensitive grape variety that reveals different nuances in different conditions; it rivals Pinot Noir in this respect. Putting on a tasting like this allowed us to share our fascination with the wines and the region. Frankly there has never been a better time to buy Barolo – perhaps you could argue it is the last bastion of great value for finely nuanced reds In Europe. Certainly, £300 per case doesn’t get you far in Burgundy or Bordeaux, but it can get you an impeccably crafted, single vineyard Barolo. That point came across loud and clear to our audience on Wednesday night.

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