Sylvain Cathiard’s grandfather, a foundling from Savoie, came to Burgundy and found work with Domaine de la Romanée Conti (DRC) and Lamarche, subsequently buying a few parcels of vineyards for himself. His son André Cathiard began to bottle some of the crop.
In due course Sylvain began work with his father but then separated to start his own small domaine, until on his father’s retirement in 1995, Sylvain could take back the family vineyards on a renting agreement. He has now been joined by his son Sébastien.
The Cathiards have 5.5 hectares of vineyards in Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-St-Georges and Chambolle-Musigny, including tiny holdings in Clos de Vougeot and Romanée-St-Vivant. A recent addition (from 2006) to the range is the Nuits-St-Georges Aux Thorey.
96 Points Allen Meadows
Like the Malconsorts this is a seriously complex wine with brilliantly layered aromas of spice, exotic tea, dark berries and dried floral hints. The texture of the medium-bodied flavors is ultra-fine yet there is plenty of power and verve to the lightly mineral-inflected and remarkably persistent finish. The Malconsorts is a stunner but there is quite simply another dimension of depth and length present here. Note that also like the Malconsorts this will need plenty of cellar time.
95 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2013 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru was showing a bit of reduction when I tasted it from barrel. With some rigorous coaxing it reluctantly reveals wild strawberry mixed with bergamot and rose petals, hints of fig jam in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins and a palpable sense of energy and precision. There is symmetry on the end that you look for in a Grand Cru, and a persistent finish that goes on and on and on. Superb, but what else would you expect?