Description
Frédéric Magnien, Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru “Les Borniques”
I’m of the strong belief that the largest wine rewards lie within Burgundy, a region where vine location stands taller, speaks louder, and holds more gravitas than any other on earth. Therefore, if you’re a Burgundy collector of any magnitude—from trainee to zealous devotee—you must indulge me for a moment. Just glancing at today’s label immediately reveals three things: (1) A winemaking visionary in Frédéric Magnien, (2) the perfumed allure of Chambolle-Musigny, and (3) coveted Premier Cru status in “Les Borniques.” But it’s the specific location of this 1er Cru that truly vaults it into rarefied, value-shattering territory.
This minuscule, secret gem of a vineyard is wedged between, and virtually contiguous with, legendary Premier Cru “Les Amoureuses” and Grand Cru “Le Musigny.” If that’s means nothing to you, consider this: The cheapest bottle of Amoureuses starts at $300, and that threshold soars many hundreds higher for Musigny, with elite examples costing thousands upon thousands (for those seeking a quick myocardial infarction, take a look at Domaine Leroy’s cult bottling). But I digress, because today we’re focused on Frédéric Magnien’s neighboring “Borniques,” a lush, vivid, fantastically exquisite 1er Cru Burgundy that arrived stateside in pitifully small quantities. Eager buyers are always left empty-handed each year, so if you want to secure up to six bottles, do so now or forever hold your peace. Need further convincing? We’re offering the country’s lowest price!
Frédéric Magnien is an innovative and impassioned vigneron who personifies the term “micro-négociant” (a designation of relatively recent coinage). And today’s wine, from the Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru “Les Borniques,” is a perfect distillation of everything he brings to the table: a jewel-box vineyard site; impeccable old-vine fruit from a great vintage; and a dialed-back approach to aging that lets the nuances of site shine through as clearly as possible. This is prime “collectible” material with a lot of insider cachet.
Having grown up riding his bike through the vineyards of Morey-Saint-Denis, and having learned his craft from his father, Michel (of Domaine Michel Magnien), “Fred” has assembled an enviable roster of grower-partners, all of them either Certified Organic or in the process of conversion. He works closely with these growers, many of whom he’s known since childhood, to produce exceptionally pure expressions of some of Burgundy’s greatest vineyards. Magnien founded his maison in 1995, following an extended period of travel to other great wine regions of the world. The roster of wines now produced under the Magnien label is extremely long and diverse, stretching the length of the Côte d’Or and reaching up into Chablis as well. All the wines display the kind of precision that comes from careful, hands-on fruit sourcing, and there’s no doubt that Magnien considers himself a vigneron first and a winemaker second.
In recent years, as he has embraced organic and biodynamic practices, his work in the cellar has also evolved: Wines have long been fermented with a percentage of whole clusters intact, and only on indigenous yeasts, but starting with the 2015 vintage, Magnien began aging some of his wines—including today’s—in a mixture of old French oak and terra cotta amphorae. He explains that “[the] mix of the two wine ageings unveil the brightness and clarity of wine thanks to the jar, while keeping its complexity and length thanks to the traditional cask.” We tasted both vessels when I visited a few years ago, and it was mind-boggling that both samples on their own were great but nowhere as good as when blended together. I would never have believed it if I wasn’t there!
“Les Borniques” soils, like Musigny’s, are streaked with veins of white and yellow clay over limestone but its aspect is marginally different with more of a full east/slight northeast tilt in comparison to Musigny’s (and Amoureuses’) more southeasterly exposition. Ultimately, it’s one of the best illustrations of the “game of inches” we so often obsess over around here. Take about five steps south or east of Les Borniques and you’ve entered an entirely new dimension in terms of price—it’s hard to fathom just how close they are, even when we were walking these vineyards in person!
Today’s 2019 was partially de-stemmed—whole-cluster percentage varies with vintage—and fermented on indigenous yeasts before being transferred into a combination of neutral French barrels (40%) and clay amphorae (60%). After substantial aging, the wines from both vessels were blended together and bottled without fining or filtration. Even in its youth, this 2019 beauty already reveals gorgeously inviting aromas and flavors of ripe black raspberry, spiced plum, cherry skin, goji berry, red tea, forest floor, and a complex, finely woven mosaic of exotic spices. The palate is in no way austere or “closed.” On the contrary, this is a lush, voluptuous Pinot Noir that epitomizes the sleek generosity of 1er Cru Chambolle-Musigny so flawlessly. If you decide to splurge on more than one bottle, they’ll easily keep over the next 10-15 years. Cheers!
