Domaine Sylvain Cathiard

Alfred Cathiard, the first generation of the family in Vosne-Romanée, came from the Savoie and started in the 1920s as an ouvrier and tâcheron for both Domaine Lamarche and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. He later bought some small parcels and sold his produce to the négoce. His son André Cathiard was the first in the family to bottle and sell the domaine's wine, and he bought the domaine's parcels of Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Aux Malconsorts and Romanée-Saint-Vivant. André retired in 1995, and his son Sylvain took full control at that time. Sylvain also worked vines of the Thomas-Moillard domaine, Romanée-Saint-Vivant among them, until the Domaine Charles Thomas vines were sold. Sébastien Cathiard, Sylvain's son and the fourth generation, started working at the domaine in 2006; the domaine carries his father's name. As of November 2022, Sébastien was making the wines and had begun the 2021 harvest on 23 September in the Hautes Côtes.

• Alfred Cathiard: from the Savoie; ouvrier and tâcheron for Domaine Lamarche and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in the 1920s; later bought small parcels
• André Cathiard: first in the family to bottle and sell the domaine's wine; bought the Aux Malconsorts and Romanée-Saint-Vivant parcels; retired in 1995
• Sylvain Cathiard: took full control in 1995; the domaine carries his name
• Sébastien Cathiard: fourth generation, at the domaine since 2006, making the wines as of November 2022

The domaine covered 4.60 hectares in 2017. Its 2006 purchase of Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Aux Thorey came partly in compensation for losing the Thomas-Moillard parcels it had worked. With the 2019 vintage came two new Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits cuvées, Aux Chaumes and Dames Huguette, a Gevrey-Chambertin, and a Nuits-Saint-Georges village wine from vines rented en fermage from a retired vigneron. The domaine grew from 8.35 hectares in 2020 to 12.5 hectares for 2021, including 5.3 hectares of Hautes Côtes, with a new cuverie, and by late 2022 two-thirds of the domaine was given to regional wines. Sébastien Cathiard tied the growth to access: 'I want more people to have access to our wines.' The Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru parcel is 0.17 hectares. In Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru, Aux Malconsorts comes from two plantations, of 1972 and 1973; Aux Reignots is a 0.25-hectare parcel planted in 1997, the youngest at the domaine; En Orveaux had 70-year-old vines in 2019; and the domaine also makes Les Suchots. The Chambolle-Musigny Les Clos de l'Orme comes from a 0.43-hectare block, the domaine's only vineyard in Chambolle. The Vosne-Romanée village wine comes from five parcels in four lieux-dits, and the Gevrey-Chambertin from one parcel in Champs Francs that is not named on the label. The Bourgogne Pinot Noir draws on two parcels: one in Flagey, the historic parcel of the domaine, and one in Croix Blanche, between Vosne and Nuits. Aux Chaumes sits above Nuits at 400 metres altitude, and the Bourgogne Aligoté comes 95 percent from Villars la Faye, largely from vines of the 1940s.

• Grand Cru: Romanée-Saint-Vivant, 0.17 ha
• Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru: Aux Malconsorts (plantations of 1972 and 1973), Aux Reignots (0.25 ha, planted 1997), En Orveaux, Les Suchots
• Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru: Aux Thorey (bought 2006) and Aux Murgers
• Village: Vosne-Romanée (five parcels, four lieux-dits), Chambolle-Musigny Les Clos de l'Orme (0.43 ha), Gevrey-Chambertin (Champs Francs), Nuits-Saint-Georges (rented vines, from 2019)
• Regional: Bourgogne Pinot Noir (Flagey and Croix Blanche), Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits (Villars la Faye, Aux Chaumes, Dames Huguette), Bourgogne Aligoté

Sébastien Cathiard destems everything, then gives a prefermentation maceration of about a dozen days, with up to 30 days of total cuvaison and temperatures up to 32°C to help fix the colour, a little longer than his father Sylvain used to do. Up to two-thirds new wood is used for the Premier and Grand Crus. The Vosne-Romanée village sees about one-third new oak, and the Bourgogne Pinot Noir had no new oak in 2016 and 2019; in 2016 Aux Thorey had about 55 percent new oak and Aux Murgers about 50 percent. The 2016s stayed unracked until racking for bottling after about 18 months, with no filtration or fining. The Bourgogne Aligoté spends six months in tank with no barrels. About 85 percent of production was exported from France as of 2017. Decanter scored the 2017 Romanée-Saint-Vivant 96 points, calling it 'plush yet refined, with scented oak, plenty of depth and spice,' and called Sébastien's only Chambolle vineyard, the source of Les Clos de l'Orme, the origin of 'one of his most charming, scented wines.'

• Everything destemmed; prefermentation maceration of about a dozen days; up to 30 days of total cuvaison
• New oak: up to two-thirds for Premier and Grand Crus, about one-third for Vosne-Romanée village, none for Bourgogne Pinot Noir in 2016 and 2019
• 2016s bottled after about 18 months without filtration or fining
• Bourgogne Aligoté: six months in tank, no barrels

No producer website was found, so this article rests on secondary sources. Burgundy Report (visit reports dated 5 December 2017, 7 December 2020 and 23 November 2022): https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/11-2017/profile-sylvain-cathiard/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/12-2020/sylvain-cathiard-2019/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/12-2022/sylvain-cathiard-2021/. Decanter (2017 vintage reviews published 5 December 2018, and Clive Coates MW, last updated 5 August 2020): https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/burgundy/domaine-sylvain-cathiard-romanee-st-vivant-grand-cru-2017-25742/, https://decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/burgundy/domaine-sylvain-cathiard-vosne-romanee-1er-cru-reignots-25738, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/burgundy/domaine-sylvain-cathiard-les-clos-de-lorme-25831/, https://www.decanter.com/magazine/pinot-noir-paradise-vosne-romanee-249998/. Last verified 2026-10-14.