Sylvain Pataille is one of the winemakers who have made Marsannay a name to know. From the northernmost corner of the Côte de Nuits he makes biodynamic Pinot Noir, a rosé built to age and the Aligoté he is best known for.
Sylvain Pataille: from oenologist to grower in Marsannay
Sylvain Pataille trained in viticulture in Beaune and in oenology in Bordeaux. He spent several years as an oenologist at a laboratory in Beaune, advising well-known Côte de Beaune domaines, and that experience shows in his precise cellar work. In 1999, while still consulting, he started his own domaine in Marsannay with about a hectare of vines.
The domaine has since grown to around 15 hectares, and he now runs it full time. The vineyards are farmed organically and biodynamically, with low yields and a focus on living soils. Pataille is known above all for taking Aligoté seriously, a grape many treat as an everyday wine, but which he handles with the same care as his Pinot Noir.
Marsannay: red, white and rosé in one appellation
Marsannay became an appellation in its own right in 1987 and is the only one in the Côte de Nuits allowed to make red, white and rosé. Its vineyards lie in three communes, Couchey, Marsannay-la-Côte and Chenôve, just south of Dijon. Several of the best sites, including Clos du Roy and Les Longeroies, are seen as clear candidates for premier cru status.
Pataille is one of the winemakers who have shown what Marsannay can do, bottling individual vineyards separately instead of blending them into a single village wine.
Sylvain Pataille Clos du Roy, Le Chapitre and Fleur de Pinot
The reds are Pinot Noir, fermented with wild yeasts and often with a large share of whole bunches. Clos du Roy from Chenôve is fermented with around 70 percent whole bunches and is one of the domaine's most structured wines. Le Chapitre comes from a vineyard of about a hectare, is fermented entirely with whole bunches and spends 18 months in barrel. En Clemengeots, from Couchey, shows another side of the appellation.
Fleur de Pinot is a rosé for ageing from old Pinot Noir vines on limestone. It is pressed directly, fermented with wild yeasts and aged for a long time in barrel, giving it a depth rarely found in rosé. The Bourgogne Aligoté shows how much the grape can deliver from a good site.
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Sylvain Pataille questions and answers
Where is Domaine Sylvain Pataille?
In Marsannay-la-Côte, at the northern end of the Côte de Nuits just south of Dijon. The vineyards are in Marsannay, Couchey and Chenôve.
Are Sylvain Pataille's wines biodynamic?
Yes. The vineyards are farmed organically and biodynamically, and in the cellar he uses wild yeasts and keeps intervention to a minimum.
Why is his Aligoté so sought after?
Because he treats the grape with the same care as his Pinot Noir, with biodynamic farming, low yields and precise cellar work. The result is Aligoté with freshness, minerality and tension, far from the light everyday wine the grape is often associated with.
How long can the wines be cellared?
The Aligoté drinks well after two to four years. Clos du Roy and Le Chapitre develop for eight to ten years or more, and Fleur de Pinot can also be kept for several years.