2013 Nuits-St Georges, Aux Murgers, 1er Cru, Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Burgundy
Critics reviews
From a .47 ha parcel of 65+-year-old vines.
A notably ripe nose displays spice and highly complex aromas of cassis, plum liqueur, black raspberry, and an interesting note of game. There is excellent volume and power, and this couldn't be more texturally different from the Aux Thorey. I like how well-integrated the tannins already are, and this should amply reward a decade or more of cellaring.
Drink from 2023 onward
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (January 2015)
The 2013 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru les Murgers, raised in 80% new oak like the Aux Thorey, has a more exotic bouquet than the Murgers, spicier and with a greater proportion of black fruit in evidence. The palate is medium-bodied, masculine, and structured, reserved on the entry. Blackberry, raspberry, and just a touch of liquorice come through on the finish, which is more in sync with the new oak than the Aux Thorey. Give this gem three or four years in bottle.
Drink 2018 - 2035
Neil Martin, Wine Advocate (January 2015)
80% new oak. 70-year-old vines.
Scented. A bit over extracted and inky? For the moment this is very tight and youthful. Tough and dry on the end. Unforgiving. A bit tough.
Drink 2023 - 2035
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (January 2015)
Good deep red with ruby tones. Reticent aromas of black cherry, dark raspberry, coffee and minerals, plus a lightly candied quality owing to the small, millerandé berries. Juicy, precise and penetrating but not at all dry; densely packed but showing a light touch and lovely energy. It finishes with refined tannins, restrained sweetness and excellent lift, with the wine's salinity stimulating the taste buds.
Drink 2019 - 2027
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com (March 2016)
About this WINE
Domaine Sylvain Cathiard
Sylvain Cathiard’s grandfather, a foundling from Savoie, came to Burgundy and found work with Domaine de la Romanée Conti (DRC) and Lamarche, subsequently buying a few parcels of vineyards for himself. His son André Cathiard began to bottle some of the crop.
In due course Sylvain began work with his father but then separated to start his own small domaine, until on his father’s retirement in 1995, Sylvain could take back the family vineyards on a renting agreement. He has now been joined by his son Sébastien, and a spacious new cellar is currently under construction.
The Cathiards have 5.5 hectares of vineyards in Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-St-Georges and Chambolle-Musigny, including tiny holdings in Clos de Vougeot and Romanée-St-Vivant. A recent addition (from 2006) to the range is the Nuits-St-Georges Aux Thorey.
This is not a complicated domaine: the vines are looked after meticulously with the fruit being sorted on a table de tri and destalked. After fermentation the wines go into barrel, with 50 per cent new oak for the village wines and 100 per cent for premier cru and above. Most of the barrels come from one cooper, Rémond, albeit with the wood sourced from different forests. The wines in their youth have an exceptional energy and purity of fruit.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.
Nuits-Saint Georges
Originally known as Nuits, or even Nuits-sous-Beaune, the town was happy to add the name of its finest vineyard, Les St Georges, in the 19th century. There are no Grands Crus, but many fine Premier Cru vineyards, the mayor of the time – Henri Gouges – preferring not to single out any vineyard for the highest status.
The wines of Nuits-St Georges vary according to their exact provenance. Those of the hamlet of Prémeaux, considered to be part of Nuits-St Georges for viticultural purposes, are often on the lighter side.The richest and most sought-after are those just south of Nuits-St Georges such as Les Vaucrains, Les Cailles and Les St Georges itself. The third sector, including Les Murgers, Les Damodes and Les Boudots are at the Vosne-Romanée end of the village, and demonstrate some of the extra finesse associated with Vosne.
Several domaines (Gouges, Rion, Arlot) now produce a white Nuits-St Georges from Pinot Blanc or Chardonnay.
- 175 hectares of village Nuits-St Georges
- 143 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (20 in all). Best vineyards include Les St Georges, and Clos des Argillières and Clos de la Maréchale in Prémeaux
- Recommended producers: Gouges, Rion, Liger Belair, Potel
- Recommended restaurant : La Cabotte (small but stylish)
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
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Description
Very intense purple without the black. There’s a haunting, heady Vosne note over and above the dark fruit of Nuits-St Georges here. It’s a glorious, intense mouthful of fruit with brilliant minerals in the background. Very long, indeed.
Sylvain considers 2013 to be a very classic Burgundy vintage, with good acidity similar to 2010. This delivers a very good terroir definition, and the classification levels are well-marked out. Pure and precise wines, but unfortunately, volumes are a further 20% below 2012 because of bad flowering and the need to sort the grapes. Contrary to many, Sébastien favoured a bit more extraction, with longer maceration before and after fermentation and more punching down during. These are very interesting results, as you will see. He has also cut back on the new oak.
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