2023 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru

“I don’t have any record of your appointment,” Sébastien Cathiard tells me when I arrive at his winery in Vosne-Romanée. Never words you relish hearing. Fortunately, I joined his scheduled tasting with a group of Japanese importers: a chance to translate between the two languages my ear recognizes. This is an expanded range of wines compared to a few years ago, especially with new holdings from the Hautes Côtes. Cathiard told me that he did not conduct any green harvesting like other growers in 2023, and that he picked between September 13 and 25. These dates are deceiving because it includes the later-picked Hautes Côtes—the parcels in the Côte d’Or picked swiftly over four days. Yields were around 50 hl/ha, with every cuvée destemmed as usual. He mentioned that he maintained the percentage of new oak for the Premier Crus and any excess new barrels caused by, say, shortfall in crop like in 2021 or in 2024, are used for the entry-level cuvées.

This is an impressive set of wines from Cathiard, not least his Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots and Aux Malconsorts, which had the audacity to shade the Romanée-Saint-Vivant. Prices are undeniably high, although he mentioned that he had held them constant since 2021 and would do so for 2023.