Domaine Sylvain Pataille

Domaine Sylvain Pataille

The forty-year-old Sylvain Pataille grew up in the region. Although he doesn’t directly come from a winemaking family (his great-grandfather was a vigneron), Pataille grew up with it in the background, and was passionately interested in viticulture from a very young age.

Sylvain Pataille makes wines exclusively from the terroirs of Marsannay-la-Côte. While still working at the lab, in 1999 he had also begun cultivating a small parcel of vines in Marsannay, with only one hectare to begin with, then 4 in 2001, when he quit the lab. He then decided to concentrate his efforts on his small domain, whilst advising other winemakers who he’d previously worked with. For some time, he also worked as a teacher for interns and people changing career, before stopping in 2009 in order to devote more time to his domain which was gaining in importance. The vineyard has gradually expanded as Pataille has bought parcels from winemakers going into retirement. He also set up a merchant business, buying in around 4 hectares of grapes. He is also clearly very exacting in his provision of grapes: essentially organic grapes – or at least clean – produced by winemaking friends, but he harvests and treats his parcels himself. He prioritizes low yields, ploughs his land by horse, and works according to principles of organic and biodynamic principles, with plant concoctions, the 501 preparation (crushed powdered quartz buried in cow’s horns).

In the winery, the pressing is long and gentle: he likes to take his time. Vinifications are natural and with as little intervention as possible, with no inputs apart from a little bit of sulfite (very little) at bottling. The wines are matured for 15 to 18 months, with a low proportion of new casks (generally around 30%). The domain also follows biodynamic principles, but without certification as they no longer recognize themselves within the official bodies and their “suffocating administrative steamroller which is not based in reality and if full of preconceived judgements incapable of questioning their practices”. Sylvain Pataille’s wines have reached excellent levels. They are incredibly impressive in their elegance, sophistication and silky substance. With the white, red, and even the lovely rosé Fleur de pinot, these are some of the great wines of the Côte de Nuits.