Sylvain Cathiard Vosne Romanee Aux Malconsorts 1er Cru – 2018

“The most reserved premier cru in the cellar is, as usual, the 2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts. Opening in the glass with scents of dark berry fruit, plums, exotic spices, dark chocolate, smoked meats and burning embers, it’s medium to full-bodied, deep and muscular, displaying exquisite structural refinement and superb concentration, concluding with a long, fragrant finish. There are 16 barrels this year.

Sébastien Cathiard began his harvest on September 8 and concluded it three days later. Alcohols, he tells me, range between 12.8% and 13.5%, while pHs are healthy at between 3.45 and 3.55. The resulting wines are simply superb: deep and muscular but exquisitely refined, stylish without begin stylized, these are red Burgundies that confirm Cathiard’s status as one of the Côte de Nuits most serious young vignerons. As I reported last year, the rudiments of the contemporary Cathiard approach are simple: meticulous viticulture—though not, I should add, especially low yields—and careful sorting, followed by complete destemming, macerations of 20-30 days and maturation in barrels, principally from Tonnellerie Rémond, from some 15-18 months.” 

94-96/100pts Wine Advocate