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.
93-95 Points Allen Meadows
There is just enough reduction to mask the underlying fruit but not the floral and spice nuances. Otherwise the dense, powerful and robust full-bodied flavors possess both super energy and minerality before delivering huge length on the balanced, austere and very tightly wound finale. This stunner is a classically styled Malconsorts that is made in a ‘buy and forget you own it’ style.
94-96 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts was showing a little more reduction on the nose compared to the other cuvées. Underneath though, lies intense and quite voluminous red berry fruit, later rose petals, a touch of woodland coming through. The palate is medium-bodied with quite high-toned entry, vivacious blueberry fruit mixed with cassis and orange pith, then closing in quickly on a structure and grippy finish (it finished its malolactic not until September so this would explain this). It will require several years in bottle. It is not quite as audacious as the 2015 Malconsorts, but certainly a prince to that king.