Cathiard Sylvain

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard et Fils is a gem among the wineries of the Côte de Nuits that shines quietly in the prestigious village of Vosne-Romanée. The family's winemaking adventure began in 1930, when Sylvaine's grandfather moved in search of fortune from Savoy to Burgundy, finding work at the Domaine de la Romanée Conti and Lamarche. He bought some vineyard plots and inaugurated the business of supplying grapes to a number of local producers. His son André led the negoce from 1969 to 1985, beginning to bottle some of the vintages himself and increasingly joined by his son. In due course Sylvain decided to separate from family duties to start his own small winery while simultaneously engaging in Thomas Moillard's vineyards. His father's retirement in 1995 prompted him to lease the family properties, until, with Moillard's business closed, Sylvain returned home in 2005 to personally run the Domaine. In the final years of that decade he was joined by his son Sebastien, who learned the art in Chabils, in Bordeaux at Chateau Smith-Haut Lafitte and in New Zealand before personally managing an entire vintage in 2011 and taking his place at the head of the Domaine.

Today, Domaine Sylvain Cathiard et Fils has around 5 hectares spread over various plots, mainly in Vosne-Romanée, where it produces wines from the Grand Cru Romanée-Saint-Vivant and the adjoining 1er Cru Les Suchots. Other good sites in the village are the 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts, which borders La Tache to the west, Aux Reignots, the northern part of La Romanée, and Orveaux, a little to the north of Echezeaux and on the edge of the Combe of the same name. Two other small plots are located in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The vines in Saint-Vivants are between 10 and 65 years old. They grow on soils that are essentially characterized by the characteristic old limestone slab of the Côte, which is covered by a thin and in places practically non-existent layer of clay. The grapes are carefully tended exclusively by hand, using sensible control practices and minimizing intervention.

Winemaking at Domaine Sylvain Cathiard et Fils follows simple and traditional rules. We work with 100% destemmed grapes, following strict controls at the sorting table. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts and maturation in wood: around 50% new for the Villages, around 75% for the Premier Cru and completely new for the Grand Cru. No filtration is carried out during bottling. The wines express exceptional purity and terroir.