2023 Domaine Sylvain Cathiard & Fils 'Les Dames Huguette'
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.
The 2019 vintage saw the size of Sebastien Cathiard’s vineyard holdings in the Burgundy dramatically expanded from the well-established 4.6 hectares to over 8 hectares. The huge majority of this is in the Hautes Côtes de Nuits and has resulted in the two cuvées Aux Chaumes and Les Dames Huguette.
Critics' reviews
The 2023 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Les Dames Huguette, from a vineyard that touches the Aux Chaumes but has more limestone soils, shows a little more ripeness on the nose: more forward, vivacious red berry fruit mixes with hoisin. The palate is well balanced with dark berry fruit and a touch of cola. This has fine weight and focus, though perhaps it will require a couple of years to fully integrate.
A perfumed and slightly more elegant nose of mostly red berries and wet stone gives way to less concentrated but finer flavors that possess excellent delineation, indeed the word chiseled comes to mind, all wrapped in a dusty and moderately austere finale that isn't quite as complex.
