2017 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru

I regularly bought the wines from Domaine Sylvain Cathiard from the late 90s onwards when I was learning about Burgundy, partly because I enjoyed them (in particular a magnificent set of 2000s) and partly because they were then quite cheap. Alas, gone are the days when I could crack open Cathiard’s Malconsorts and get change from 20 quid. Much has changed. Sylvain’s son Sébastien Cathiard took over the domaine and rapidly gained fans of his opulent, sensual style of winemaking. One valid criticism leveled at the domaine was excessive new oak, although Cathiard has acknowledged and tempered that in recent vintages. Even the Romanée-Saint-Vivant is now not entirely raised in new wood. Like his father, Sébastien Cathiard is not the most loquacious winemaker, but he is always friendly and welcoming. He will also have a few more vines in the future. Next year he will farm an additional 3.7 hectares, a new fermage from a retiring winemaker that includes parcels in Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and some Gevrey-Chambertin Village.

“I picked from September 13 to 15, just three days,” Sébastien Cathiard explained in his spotless barrel cellar. “The fruit is 100% de-stemmed, yields around 48hl/ha. The cuvaison was between 23 and 27 days with a 10-day pre-fermentation cold soak. I did around six to eight pigeages. Alcohol levels are around 12.5° to 13.0° after just a little chaptalisation. The malolactic fermentation passed normally and finished in August, so I plan to bottle next April.”

This was a typical set of wines from Cathiard. The word that springs to mind whenever I taste here is “luxuriant.” My pick might surprise you: the Vosne-Romanée En Orveaux. Put aside vineyard status and look at the vine stock: 75-year-old vines from a massal selection, plus a bit of millerandage that tends to impart a tad more concentration. No wonder Cathiard poured it after some of his Premier Crus. These are wonderful wines, although they do oblige bottle age, as testified by a recent 2007 Malconsorts.