Sylvain Cathiard Bourgogne Aligoté 2023

Variety: Aligoté
Country Region: France, Burgundy, Côte-de-Nuits
Appellation: Bourgogne Aligoté

A small amount of Aligoté from vines located in the Hautes Cotes (95% of this comes from 30-80 yo vines in the village of Villers-la-Faye above Corgoloin and 5% from vines in Nuits St Georges planted in 2011). This bright pure white makes a brilliant addition to the Cathiard range, and what a great success this is. Pure fine and fresh this wine shows excellent depth and polish and great refreshment. Fermented and matured in stainless steel tank this is 100% de-stemmed (as are all his red wines) and shows Cathiards trademark intensity and purity.

Review for the 2022 vintage
'The 2022 Bourgogne Aligoté comes from vines located mainly in the Hautes-Côtes, plus some in Nuits Saint-Georges. Its splendid bouquet articulates the attractiveness of the variety. The palate is well-balanced and steely - no surprise, given that it is raised in stainless steel. There is a nice spicy finish here. Drink 2023-2028.' 89 points, Neal Martin, Vinous, November 2023.

'Do I need to tell you how much I adore Sylvain Cathiard’s wines? This is a seriously good quality producer of Vosne-Romanée, one whose star is in the ascendant. These are gloriously silky smooth, complex wines; not just with the top Premier Crus but down to the generic Burgundy. It’s the intensity and focus that set Cathiard apart, wines with supreme definition and purity that seduce the palate like a beautiful courtesan. I would love to taste his Grand Crus, but they are incredibly rare and sought-after. This producer comes highly recommended from top to bottom.' Neal Martin, Vinous.

This tiny Domaine was established by Sylvain Cathiard’s grandfather (who worked for Domaine de la Romanee Conti and later for Domaine Lamarche) in the 1930s and was then further built and maintained by Sylvain’s father Andre from 1969 until 1985, when Sylvain himself became involved. The following year, Sylvain set up his own with parcels of vines rented from his father and other vignerons, before taking on his father’s original vineyards. From 2006, he was joined by his son, Sebastian, and they have formed the estate of Sylvain Cathiard et Fils and since 2011 Sebastien is running the domaine with Sylvain retiring.

Based in Vosne, his 5 hectares span Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-St-Georges and Chambolle-Musigny, with a very small parcel in Romanée-St-Vivant located directly below Romanee Conti where they are officially the smallest land-owner of this magnificent Grand cru. All vineyard work is carried out with meticulous attention to detail by Sebastien and his wife and a small dedicated team. All vineyard work is done on organic principles although Sebastien has not sought certification.

For winemaking Sebastien has a definite hands-off approach, preferring to do nothing rather than interfere with the natural development of the wines. He de-stems entirely, cold settles the juice for about 10 days and ferments the wines for between 22 and 30 days on skins. The new wines are matured for 18 months in oak of which about 90% is from tonellerie Remond and 10% from Francois Freres as follows: Village wines, roughly 1/3rd new oak and 2/3rds of 1 year old; 1er Crus, roughly 50% new oak and 50% 1 year old; Grand Cru, two new barrels and one one year old barrel. Since 2000 none of the wines are fined or filtered.