Burgundy Wine

Winemaker Description

Cathiard is a tiny domain - there never is very much wine. You enter a spick and span white stucco suburban home in the center of the small village of Vosne Romanee. There is a walled vineyard outside the front door. Go down the staircase and you are in a minuscule cuverie and barrel room.

Sebastien Cathiard has been slowly assuming control of this top estate in Vosne-Romanée from his father Sylvain. He is now fully in charge, but the wines have been so good for so long that he wisely has changed very little. They continue to farm meticulously, de-stem and rigorously sort all the fruit prior to fermentation. The only thing he has changed is the gradual reduction of new oak, seeking a bit more purity of terroir expression.

Expert Review

"An ultra-fresh and very bright nose freely offers up its array of red berries, plum and even more floral wisps. There is again a lovely textured to the beautifully delineated and stony middleweight flavors that conclude in a youthfully austere, linear and chiseled finale. This is also really quite good and worth considering."
Allen Meadows-Burghound

Winemaker Description

Bruno Clair set up an eponymous estate in France established in 1979 with vineyard holdings spread all over the area.  Half of the vines are a century old. Bruno Clair, a true vigneron, has the expertise needed to reinvent this area better than anyone and his Marsannay wines are very elegant and long-lasting. His respect for the terroir and the stylistic precision of his wines makes him one of the best producers in Burgundy.

This textbook En la Rue de Vergy is one of the rare white wines of the Côte de Nuits. It is complex, perfectly balanced, and well-structured with very clean tannins and crisp acidity and a long finish. The intense, rich palette presents lemon, grapefruit, oak, vanilla, yellow apple, almonds, and white melon flavors with herbal, floral, and mineral nuances. It's a nice accompaniment to paella.

Winemaker Description

Chambertin is the wine of Kings. Masculine, powerful and well built. Vigorous and firm, well-structured and very dense. With great persistence in the mouth and aromas of chocolate, licorice and red berries.

Expert Reviews 

Jasper Morris 100 Points | An imperial robe as we have come to expect. The bouquet is very backward, no problem there either, all about the fruit, the new wood is irrelevant. Starts slowly then builds immaculately, still too early really to see the detail. As always it is about grace style intensity and length rather than overt muscle, all the finesse one can want. Long and lovely

Robert Parker 97 Points Wine Advocate | Rousseau's 2020 Chambertin Grand Cru is brilliant, unwinding in the glass with aromas of wild berries, orange rind, plums, exotic spices, Egyptian musk, woodsmoke and rose petals. Full-bodied, velvety and concentrated, it's deep and tightly wound, with striking intensity and energy. Still very primary, even after a year's élevage, it will require patience, but it's a magical Chambertin in the making.

Expert Review 

Vinous 99 Points | The 2020 Romanée-Conti Grand Cru was picked on 26 and 28 August at 28.7hL/ha. As usual, I leave it for 5-10 minutes to open in the glass, predisposed not to show everything upon first pour. It reveals lovely dark berry fruit, sous-bois, clove and haunting sea spray notes (picture yourself walking along the pebble beach at Whistable and the tang of shucked oyster shell in the salty air). The palate is medium-bodied with very fine and pliant tannins. Harmonious to a tee with a perfect silver bead of acidity, long and languorous, this fans out with ineffable ease on the finish. Stunning. 500 cases produced. Tasted at Corney & Barrow’s annual in bottle tasting in London.

Expert Review

Vinous 93 Points | The 2021 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru, of which half comprises fruit from the Chapelots climat, has a delightful oyster shell-infused bouquet that blossoms in the glass – citrus peel intermixed with orange zest. The palate is very well-balanced, with a little more weight and concentration than the Butteaux. It is taut and linear, with a lick of salinity on the finish. Excellent. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2020 

Decanter 94 Points | This wine is fermented in cask and given a 15-month maturation without racking. The result is marvelously creamy and rich, yet there is an expressive lemony fruit, a pleasant floral note, and despite the weight, there is plenty of acidity. A fabulous starting point for the range. Enjoy now, but a few years of age will only reveal more nuance. A serious Bourgogne Blanc. Produced from parcels surrounding the domaine, including the lieu-dit Les Magny; the total surface area is 1.5ha.

Our Professional Review

Bart of 67Wine.com writes the Clos du Chateau Monopole lies entirely within the Maltroie premier cru. Beautifully layered with enticing aromas of apples, pears and peach with a streak of nectarine on the bouquet with beautifully detailed minerality emerging on the palate and into the finish. Elegant and detailed with exceptionally good complexity.

Winemaker Notes

Expert Review

Burghound 91-93 Points | From a .38 ha parcel An exuberantly spicy nose freely offers up its pretty and very fresh combination of red and blue pinot fruit with similar floral aromas of violet and rose petal. There is very good energy and minerality if not quite the same mid-palate density while delivering excellent depth and persistence on the moderately austere and chalky finish. This is lighter but offers very good flavor authority. *Burghound Outstanding!*

Expert Review - Vintage 2021 

Burhound 92-94 Points | An elegant, pure and ultra-fresh nose offers up notes of lilac, rose petal, white peach, tea and citrus zest. There is a markedly more refined mouthfeel to the utterly delicious and highly seductive medium weight flavors that are more precise, all wrapped in a citrusy, impressively persistent and youthfully austere finale. This is very classy and I particularly like the underlying tension and balance that should also permit this beauty to age effortlessly over the next 12 to 15 years. In a word, excellent.

Expert Review

Burghound | Note: from 3 different parcels measuring 1.36 ha, two at the bottom in Baudes Basses and another at the top in Montiotes Hautes Moderate reduction dominates the fruit though there is a lovely sense of underlying tension and freshness to the succulent, palate coating and powerful medium weight flavors that also conclude in a chalky, sappy and lingering finale. This is also going to need at least some patience as it's presently quite tightly wound.

Critic Notes

Neal Martin writes:  The 2021 Morey-Saint-Denis Village is quite backward on the nose, blackberry and bilberry at the moment, a distinct marine element surface with time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit tinged with orange rind and brown spices. Fine structure towards the finish although here, I would just like a little more finesse to develop.  - Drinking 2024 to 2032.  - Vinous

William Kelley writes:  The 2021 Morey-Saint-Denis Village is a blend of En Sevrey and Clos Solon. Delivering aromas of smoky red berries, raw cocoa and forest floor, it's medium-bodied, supple and perfumed, with melting tannins and a charming middle-weight style.  - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Allen Meadows writes:  Here too there is enough reduction to suppress the underlying fruit. The palate impression though of the more substantial flavors is vibrant and well-detailed, particularly on the lengthier and better-balanced finale. This could use more depth but that should reasonably occur with time.  - Burghound

Expert Review

Allan Meadows  of Burghound writes 91 Points | Bright red and dark berry fruit aromas are nuanced by notes of spice, earth and plenty of floral nuances, especially violet. The rich, concentrated and palate coating medium weight flavors possess plenty of sappy dry extract that buffers the firm tannins supporting the elegant yet powerful finish. At least some patience is strongly recommended. I would note that this example showed markedly better than one from last year, in fact so much so that I have no explanation.  

Critics Notes

Burghound 91-93 Points | Here the wood treatment is no long subtle though neither does it dominate the pretty spice, floral and red berry aromas that display a mentholated top note. The sleek, delicious and appealingly vibrant medium-bodied flavors possess good delineation that carries over to the sappy, powerful finish that offers both very fine depth and persistence. This is a bit woody today but the oak should integrate with a few years of keeping. (Drink starting 2033)". (2021). 

Vinous 91-93 Points | The 2021 Pommard Les Chaponnières 1er Cru, matured in 40% new oak, has a complex nose, quite tertiary to the extent that it deceives you into thinking there might be some stems. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins, moderate depth, fresh and saline with a pliant, cassis and blueberry-tinged finish. Very fine. (Drink between 2025-2037)" 01/23. (2021). 

Winemaker Description

A classic Pommard with a good structure. A complex nose with hints of red fruits, spices and flowers. The mouth is well balanced and structured, with ripe and sweet tannins. 

Expert Review

Burghound 93 Points | Ultra-spicy red and black berry aromas combine with those of jasmine tea, violet, star anise and discreet oak. The succulent, rich and delicious flavors possess excellent volume and mid-palate density while exhibiting a subtle minerality on the firm, serious and built-to-age finale that also flashes a touch of warmth. This is terrific and in 2019 it is a bit more elegant than usual. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2019

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2020 

Wine Advocate 95 Points | The 2020 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is no less impressive. Exhibiting aromas of plums, red berries and cassis mingled with orange rind, cinnamon, vanilla pod and spices, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit, lively acids and a long, rose-inflected finish.

Barrel Sample: 95-97 Burghound 94 Points | This is aromatically similar to the Clos St. Denis but even more floral. Here too there is a wonderfully attractive mouthfeel on the powerful, muscular and dense broad-shouldered flavors that are also blessed with an abundance of dry extract that buffers the massively persistent finale. This terrific effort is a blend of power and refinement and a wine that should age accordingly. A "wow" wine and on the better wines of the vintage.

Barrel Sample: 94-97Decanter 97 Points | Complex and aromatically nuanced, showing well-developed plummy fruit, with accents of earth, leather, smoke and spice. The initial feel on the palate is tannic and concentrated, but the wine is still approachable and supple, with a lovely, long line to the lingering finish. Superb wine. Dujac owns nearly 2ha here, scattered across six parcels and five of the different lieux-dits, including the original Clos de la Roche, Les Froichots, Les Fremières, Monts Luisants and Les Chabiots, giving a balanced view of this grand cru. 

Winemaker Description

The 2017 La Tâche Grand Cru soars from the glass with a captivating and beautifully integrated bouquet of exotic spices, rose petals, raspberries, cherries and blood orange mingled with notions of cinnamon and coniferous forest floor. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with a deep and tightly coiled core that marks it out as the most muscular wine in the cellar, displaying considerable concentration and largely concealed structure. While this is a dramatic young La Tâche, there's evidently plenty held in reserve, too, and it simply has appreciably more presence than any of the other wines that preceded it in this tasting. Winemaker Description.

Expert Review - Vintage 2017

Vinous 93 Points | The 2017 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, which is as usual, an exchange with Jean-Michel Chartron, has a crisp and precise bouquet with touches of yellow flower and crushed stone complementing the citrus fruit. The palate is very well balanced with beautifully integrated oak (one-year old rather than new), leading to a precise, almost Meursault-like finish. Superb. 

Winemaker Description 

It has a very detailed, slightly flinty, perhaps reserved bouquet that opens reluctantly in the glass. The palate is taut on the entry, hints of white chocolate infusing the citrus fruit, nicely balanced with a harmonious and elegant finish. 

Expert Reviews

Burghound Allen Meadows 95 Points | A subtle touch of wood serves as a suitably discreet backdrop for the exceptionally floral-infused and perfumed nose that offers up additional notes of spice, red currant and pekoe tea. The round, refined and lilting if impressively intense flavors are blessed with excellent punch and power while exhibiting a lovely salinity on the built-to-age finish. This refined effort is very classy, indeed the word Zen comes up mind.

Neal Martin of Vinous 95 Points | The 2016 La Grande Rue Grand Cru has a very pure, almost pastille-like bouquet with copious red cherry fruit mixed with crushed strawberry and a little cassis. La Grande Rue? [Post script: Bingo!] The palate is very pretty with fine-grain tannin. This is surfeit with freshness and vitality, although it does not quite have the depth and structure of other Grand Crus from the appellation. It does fan out towards the finish. The persistence, and the saline aftertaste are very appealing. Excellent. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.

Jasper Morris 94-97 Points | A little more density to the colour. Impressive intensity of floral notes, even some slightly darker fruit notes for a change. Fine density to this, as discreet as you want up front, but nonetheless more detail than the earlier wines, very silky texture across the middle, not an extra burst of intensity but still a thread of velvet which endures for much longer. Red fruits, not quite the blood orange I have noted in some vintages, and certainly the exquisite elegance that Nicole is searching for. Very classy, is it quite intense enough? The little traces of acidity are entirely woven in, a faint sign of whole bunch in the final texture. Fruit comes back behind. You could miss the point of this or adore it. Tasted: October 2017

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2020 

Burghound 93 Points | (From Les Cruots which is also known as Vignes Blanches). Touches of bitter chocolate and kirsch are present on the spicy aromas of plum, violet and soft wood. The finer if not denser flavors possess a velvety texture while also coating the palate with dry extract on the dusty and chalky finish that is likewise youthfully austere. I very much like the depth and persistence and this beauty should also age gracefully for as long as most anyone would like.

Barrel Sample: 93-96 Decanter 97 Points | A very elegant expression of Echezeaux, with a velvety black plum and rose petal fruit. There is a lovely freshness and so much finesse that the tannin and structure might surprise you at the end. This has the substance to age for decades. Produced from a 0.84ha parcel in Cruots next to Comte Liger-Belair. The vines were planted in 1954 and the destemmed fruit was gently fermented.

Barrel Sample: 97Vinous 92 Points | The 2020 Echézeaux Grand Cru offers mulberry sous-bois and very subtle star anis aromas on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins quite taut and fresh linear at the moment with touches of blood orange and Clementine towards the finish. Give this several years in bottle. (Drink between 2027-2055).

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2019

Burghound 92 Points | A much earthier, riper and more deeply pitched nose speaks of black cherry, cassis and humus nuances. There is strikingly good volume and mid-palate concentration to the dense, serious and powerful flavors that conclude in an austere, balanced, very compact and sneaky long finish. This is a big Clos de Vougeot that isn't particularly refined, but it is undeniably impressive.

Decanter 93 Points | In a warm, dry year like 2019, the results are delightful, with bright red fruits and a silky, subtle texture. Lighter than the offerings from Vosne but also very worthy.

Expert Review

Burghound | A fresh, cool and pretty nose reflects notes of essence of red berries with a touch of earth that is picked up by the bright, delicious and vibrant flavors that conclude in a dusty and lingering finale. This almost gulpable effort is built on its fruit yet it offers unusually good complexity in the context of what is typical for the genre.