Domaine Michel Magnien et Fils

Brand Description

Domaine Michel Magnien has evolved into a Burgundy producer of a singular style and philosophy from their cellars located in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis. Michel Magnien was born in 1946 and worked alongside his father Bernard from a young age. The Magniens sold their grapes to the local cooperative until 1993 when his son Frédéric joined the family business and persuaded his father to bottle the entire harvest by themselves. Frédéric Magnien began experimenting with organic practices in the late 1990s and the entire production was certified biodynamic by Demeter in 2015. Frédéric has also evolved the style of the wines and today élevage takes place in only used oak and clay jars.

Location of Vineyard

Morey-Saint-Denis is in Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits between Gevrey-Chambertin to its north and Chambolle-Musigny to its south. The domaine’s 45 acres are spread across the villages of Morey-Saint-Denis, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, and Vosne Romanée, with holdings in several premier cru and grand cru vineyards, including grand crus Clos de la Roche, Clos Saint-Denis, and Charmes-Chambertin. Holdings are concentrated in Morey-Saint-Denis, where there are also parcels in the premier crus of Les Chaffots, Les Millandes, Les Blanchards, Aux Charmes, and Climats d’Or. Frédéric Magnien maintains an average vine age of 50 years, and has stated pointedly: “pulling out old vines is not my work.”

Winemaking Philosophy

At harvest, Pinot Noir is partially destemmed at various percentages depending on the site and vintage. “I use very ripe stems and the stems should integrate into the wine,” said Frédéric. Fermentation is spontaneous. Frédéric admits to having used too much new oak for aging his wines in the past. This began to change with the 2012 vintage when he began to dramatically reduce the number of new barrels in the cellar. By the 2015 vintage, no new oak was used at Domaine Michel Magnien and Frédéric now ages part of the production in small clay jars with the goal of eliminating any taste of wood in the wines. The wines are bottled without fining or filtration.

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“This domaine includes a parcel within Clos de la Roche, adjacent to Clos St-Denis, planted on brown limestone soils where the vines give a powerful grand cru wine. Frédéric Magnien included 29 percent whole clusters in the fermentation of this wine, aging 46 percent of the lot in terra cotta amphorae, the balance in old François Fréres oak barrels. This 2017 is walled off by intensity of its red fruit, integrated into the mineral intensity of the tannins. A hint of lifted floral spice develops over the course of several days as the texture turns suave, but the wine still speaks more about structure than flavor. It’s sleek and vibrant, with energy that converts the refined scent of oak barrels into the kind of spice that only adds bliss to the wine itself.” (Top 100 Wine of 2020)
— acclaim for 2017 Michel Magnien Clos de la Roche from Wine & Spirits, Oct 2020

“This domaine includes a parcel within Clos de la Roche, adjacent to Clos St-Denis, planted on brown limestone soils where the vines give a powerful grand cru wine. Frédéric Magnien included 29 percent whole clusters in the fermentation of this wine, aging 46 percent of the lot in terra cotta amphora, the balance in old François Frères oak barrels. This 2017 is walled off by the intensity of its red fruit, integrated into the mineral intensity of the tannins. A hint of lifted floral spice develops over the course of several days as the texture turns suave, but the wine still speaks more about structure than flavor. It’s sleek and vibrant, with energy that converts the refined scent of oak barrels into the kind of spice that only adds bliss to the wine itself.”
— acclaim for 2017 Michel Magnien Clos de la Roche from Wine & Spirits, Apr 2020

“Layer Frédéric Magnien’s biodynamic practice over the power of Clos de la Roche, the thin soils and the old vines rooted in limestone rock; age the fruit of those vines in clay pots and some of it in old barrels; then open the bottle at two years of age and prepare for delirious luxury. Savor the beauty of its low limestone growl as it tells its life story in an accent finely tuned to its home town of Morey. Translated to flavor, this is all umami compression for now, more about life force than anything else.”
— acclaim for 2018 Michel Magnien Clos de la Roche from Wine & Spirits, Apr 2021

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