Aux Malconsorts

Wearing its imperial purple robes, and a light cloak of oak, the Cathiard Malconsorts is exceptionally dense in 2010. There is so much to knit together that it seems a little backward at the moment compared to the other 1er Crus. Give it time!
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

2010 is the first vintage to be made in the new cuvérie at this domaine, but it will be the last that is vinified by Sylvain Cathiard himself, he is handing over responsibility to his son Sébastien in 2011. The harvest began on 25th September with volumes just a little down compared to previous years, but as ever, Sylvain and his son have produced a most seductive range of wines.

The 2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru les Malconsorts has a touch more fruit on the nose than the Beaux Monts '13 at this point, the aromatics possessing more volume. The palate is well balanced and very harmonious with lacy tannins that belie that depth of fruit underneath. This has more breeding than the Beaux Monts at this stage and certainly more persistency in the mouth.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate, 30th December 2014

This wine is a superb example of the quality that comes from this great vineyard and has an unbelievably seductive nose. Fruit bursts out onto every part of the palate of this marvellous, intense, sumptuous Vosne- Romane. It is difficult to see how this could be better.

Les Malconsorts is a wonderful wine from this great Premier Cru vineyard, and has very pretty Vosne-Romanée aromatics, fabulously pure fruit and a refreshingly cleansing minerality.

A wonderful piece of vineyard uphill from La Romane. An explosion of exuberant fruit on the nose. Rich, open, enchanting, yet absolutely packed with fruit which will need time to develop.

From a vineyard sited alongside the Grand Cru La Tache, this remains a Grand Cru in all but price. Fabulous density on the palate, as ever.

Very rich, ripe and heady, this Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts 1er Cru from Domaine Cathard has chocolate notes creeping in at the back of the palate and a wonderfully long finish.

There is competition for the Malconsorts crown but, while making wines of this quality, Sylvain Cathiard has few challengers. Theres a sense of majesty that pervades the whole wine from the imperial purple colour right through to the impressive finish. Its difficult to believe one wine can contain so much sensuality and elegance at the same time. Drink 2010-2020+.

This is less obviously floral in character though this element is still quite prominent on the discreet spicy aromas of plum, dark raspberry and sandalwood nuances. There is an equally sleek mouth feel to the broad-shouldered and muscular flavors that possess an exquisite sense of underlying tension and plenty of minerality, all wrapped in a firm, cool, linear and built-to-age finale. I very much like the complexity and the persistence is most impressive.
Allen Meadows, Burghound, April 2015

Reduction. This is completely different from the Beaux Monts, particularly in terms of size and weight as there is real muscle to the impressively concentrated and ripe medium-bodied plus flavors that culminate in a hugely long finish that coats the palate with dry extract. The supporting tannins are also markedly firmer and it's clear that this will require around 15 years to completely realize its full, and considerable, potential yet it should be approachable after 10 years or so. In a word, impressive.
Allen Meadows - burghound.com - Jan 2014

A rich, bright purple in colour, this has dense concentration of dark raspberry fruit. It is very intense on the palate with a relatively firm structure that promises longevity. Lovely fresh finish behind. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Nicholas feels that the saving grace of the 2013 vintage was the amount of small berries caused by millerandage. He has opted for minimum extraction but longish cuvaison. The white wines have not been stirred because they were rich enough naturally. They are expected to be bottled in December and will all be under DIAM corks, apart from the Grands Crus. The reds will be bottled during February.

2011 is the first vintage made by Sébastien Cathiard, son of Sylvain. There are no plans to change the successful style of Cathiard père, but there are bound to be differences in nuance with a different hand on the tiller. The wines once again have the magical perfumed Cathiard imprimatur but is there possibly a greater sense of precision in the definition of each vineyard site. Sadly the 2011 crop is a touch smaller even than 2010.

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The touch of oak on the nose cannot contain the vast explosion of fruit evident in this wine. This is destined to be absolutely magical with a huge wealth of ripe, sweet, red cherries, almost some black too and amazing persistence.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

This Vosne-Romanée, Les Malconsorts from Roche de Bellene is a combination of two cuvées producing a wine greater than the sum of its parts, which is deep and dense with an exquisite finish.

Being Malconsorts, this is the most opaque Vosne in this cellar. There is ripeness, vitality, density, power and great persistence. There is more limestone here than in Suchots, so the density is more layered. The wine’s intensity offers flashes of the future in amongst its compaction. Brilliant. Drink 2025-2040.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Sylvain Cathiard’s grandfather, a foundling from Savoie, came to work in Vosne-Romanée, 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 passed the domaine on to his son Sébastien and a spacious new cellar has been constructed. There is a sense of frustration about Sébastien Cathiard this year. Of course, the loss of so much fruit sets the tone, but he also had to take emergency action to control the aggressive mildew, losing his organic status in the process. Who can blame him? Thus he states a preference for 2015, a significantly easier vintage and one for the long-term, but there are still some very notable wines here. The vintage began on 28th September and was over in three days, as the small berries on the frosted vines had caught up after the welcome September rains. He describes the year as gourmand, balanced and pure.

"This presently shares the reserved and backward personality of the Reignots with only glimpses of highly complex earthy dark berry fruit aromas laced liberally with spice and tea notes but in contrast to the former wine's emphasis on finesse, here the flavors run toward the robust with powerful, intense and muscular full-bodied flavors underpinned by a firm tannic spine and noteworthy grip that is completely buffered by buckets of pinot sap. Finishes with superb intensity and stunning depth and completely coats and stains the palate. This is flat out marvelous with striking energy and you don't want to miss it." 91-93/100 points (Alan Meadows - Burghound - Jan 2006)

Because the malolactic fermentation was very late, this is the most backward wine in the cellar. Nonetheless it shows a brilliant, dense, purple colour, with a brooding bouquet, huge weight of fruit on the palate and excellent structure, but it will take more time for everything to fall into place, which will surely happen.

In the vineyard Sébastien has been moving towards an organic approach. In the cellar, while vinification remains broadly similar, much less new wood is being used during élévage: the village cuvées have been reduced to 50 percent and the crus to two thirds, with a slightly lighter toast being employed in the barrels. All the wines are so much more elegant with less new wood. The 2014 vintage is lovely here.

Glowing imperial purple, the nose instantly shows the class: heady, voluptuous but a bit more tightly knit than in the past. Utterly splendid as always, with wave after wave of flavour, real stuffing, a great mix of fruit, tannin and acidity at the finish. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Sylvain considers 2013 to be a very classic Burgundy vintage, with good acidity similar to 2010. This delivers 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 both before and after fermentation, and a bit more punching down during. Very interesting results as you will see. He has also cut back on the new oak.

Red Wine Of The Vintage
Malconsorts is the pure essence of Vosne-Romanée, and Sylvain is always among my favourite producers of this great wine. Waves of regal fruit, wrapped up in the finest of tannins, caress the palate. Long and lovely.
(Chris Pollington, Fine Wine Sales Advisor)

One of Burgundy’s iconic wines, this has rich and sumptuous ripe cherry fruit which absolutely coats the mouth. There is an impressive sense of detail and a fine long finish. Monsieur Cathiard is on form again!
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Burgundy Buyer)

Dense, rich purple with a black centre, this has massively more weight on the nose than any of the other Vosne-Romané  Premiers Crus, though it is still a bit rough and ready at this stage. This is an immense wine on the palate, with substantial structure, but with such an extraordinary wealth of fruit all round. Drink 2025-2040.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Sébastien Cathiard completed his harvest in just three days, beginning on 12th September. He already had good sugar and low-ish acids a week earlier, but not the desired phenolic maturity. He took the decision to run with the vintage and so extracted as much as in other years, in fact punching down more in 2015 than 2014. He also made sure that the malolactic fermentation happened relatively late, so these are backward wines which will require quite a lot more élevage. But they are unquestionably brilliant wines. Sébastien has used less new oak than in the past and with a lighter toast to the barrels.

Robust, vibrant mid purple, this is pretty powerful stuff with marvellous density to it. It exhibits a concentrated extract of ripe red fruits, tightly-knit but impressive, clearly needing more time. The finish is lovely nonetheless.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Nicolas Potel has retained the majority of his regular contracts in 2012, though a couple are missing after the hail. Like everybody else, he has had to pay more for his grapes though, especially at the top end of the hierarchy. But as ever there are some delicious wines in the range, and at the lower end the prices are thoroughly competitive.

This vineyard is next to La Tâche and Sylvain's vines are on very similar land to the Grand Cru. Richer and more structured than En Orveaux. Drink from 2010.