Maison Frederic Magnien Cote de Nuits Village Croix Violette 2022

From North Berkeley Imports:

Of all our Burgundy producers, Frédéric Magnien, with his impressive selection of historic premier cru and grand cru terroirs, offers the most complete experience for those passionate about Burgundy wines. 

For those just beginning their exploration, Magnien Burgundy is the ideal gateway to truly understanding the myriad tastes that this wine region promises. Each of Magnien’s many exemplary crus brings you closer to the true meaning of terroir—whether the orange essence of grand cru Echezeaux or the chocolaty core of Morey ‘Millandes.’

And for those who have already been seduced by all that is Burgundy, Magnien offers a lifetime of exploration into the region’s most impressive and rare vineyards, now all within reach.

Frédéric is a fifth-generation winemaker from Morey-Saint-Denis, and Burgundy is the family’s lifeblood. Learning the craft first from his father, Michel Magnien (of Domaine Michel Magnien), Fred also traveled to California and Australia to hone his talents before returning home and starting his own négociant domaine in his native village.

There’s no question that Magnien knows every nook and cranny of Burgundy by heart. As a child, he used these vineyards as his off-road bicycle course, riding through premier and grand cru plots.  As a winemaker, Magnien still rides his bike through the fields to greet growers at first light; his are long-lasting partnerships based on trust and respect.

Magnien has also fruther refined the role of négociant given his tight connections to growers in Burgundy. His long-standing relationships involve his own teams tending vines according to organic and biodynamic practices throughout the growing season, During the harvest, it is also his teams who cut grapes by hand and transfer them carefully to his cellar in Morey-Saint-Denis. This level of attention means quality is assured from field to bottle, and makes his small-batch wines the treasures that they are.

As a négociant, Magnien differentiates himself in that he works closely with his partner vine growers throughout the year, selecting mostly older-vine parcels that are cared for to his exacting standards and by his own vineyard teams. His teams also pick the grapes at harvest, a further qualitative step. (Most négociants buy juice, not grapes.) Most of the vineyards Magnien works with are either certified organic or in the process of conversion — yet all vineyards are cared for according to organic principles. (Labels as of the 2022 vintage help clarify these differences. A full, round sun on a label means a wine that is certified organic; a half-sun means a vineyard that is cared for organically but that is not certified.)

In the cellar, grapes are usually destemmed and always fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled tanks. Magnien typically ages his wines in a combination of older François Frères oak barrels and terracotta containers, either small “eggs” or traditional amphora, ranging in size from 320L to 750L.  This allows his wines to reflect more purity of fruit and terroir character, Magnen maintains. All wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered according to the lunar cycle, and with limited added sulfites.