Frederic Magnien Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes 2022
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The Land
Vosne-Romanée has no Premier Cru or Grand Cru monopoly on what makes it Vosne. The village-level land carries the same signature, and this wine is a case for that argument: a blend of three older-vine plots on the Vosne floor and lower slope, Aux Raviolles, Au Dessus de la Rivière, and Aux Ormes, mostly east-facing on a mix of clay and limestone. East exposure in the Côte de Nuits means morning sun and afternoon shade, which slows the back half of ripening and preserves acidity. The clay share gives weight the pure limestone sites in Chambolle do not; the limestone keeps it from turning heavy. The vines average fifty years old, which is the actual reason this drinks above its address.
The Wine
100% Pinot Noir, hand-harvested and fully destemmed, fermented with indigenous yeast in tank. Élevage is the unusual part: the wine is raised in clay amphorae and clay eggs alongside older French oak barrels, with no new wood at all. Clay is porous enough to allow slow oxygen exchange the way a barrel does, but it contributes no toast and no vanilla, so the fruit and the site come through undecorated. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with low added sulfur. The 2022 growing season was hot and dry with real heat spikes, but the vines had deep water reserves from a wet winter and the crop came in both generous and healthy, an enormous relief after the frost-shattered 2021. The wine is blackberry, red cherry, iron, and crushed rock, spicy and juicy through the middle with fine, dusty tannin and a savory close.
The People
Frédéric Magnien is a fifth-generation winemaker from Morey-Saint-Denis. He learned from his father, Michel Magnien, worked harvests in other regions, then came home and founded his own négociant house in 1995. What separates him from most négociants is that he does not simply buy fruit: his own teams farm the partner vineyards through the season according to organic and biodynamic methods and pick the grapes themselves. He has also become Burgundy's leading advocate for clay élevage, using amphorae and jars where nearly everyone else defaults to oak, on the argument that clay preserves freshness and keeps the winemaker's fingerprints off the wine. Bottling is done unfined, unfiltered, and by the lunar calendar.
Food Pairing
Grilled ribeye with cracked black pepper, duck breast with cherries, a beef and root vegetable stew on a cold night, or roasted mushrooms with thyme over polenta. The tannin is fine enough not to fight red meat and the acidity handles a pan sauce. This is the Vosne to open on a Tuesday rather than save for a birthday.
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Weather shipping advisory: Orders placed during times of extreme heat or extreme cold will be held for no charge until more favorable weather returns.
Burgundy, in eastern France, encompasses several subregions, but it is the Côte d'Or that is home to many of the world's most expensive and revered wines. The region, primarily a single east-facing slope, has mixed limestone soils that vary dramatically from village to village and even vineyard to vineyard. White wines, crafted from Chardonnay, range from rich and opulent to lean and intensely mineral, while Pinot Noir produces silky, perfumed red wines of exceptional finesse and complexity. Centuries of winemaking tradition have resulted in every plot being meticulously recognized and scrutinized, making the Côte d'Or a true capital of terroir.
Burgundy - Cote d'Or
Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned, notoriously difficult-to-grow, low-yielding grape that finds its ancestral home in Burgundy, France, where it produces some of the world's most elegant and nuanced wines. While Burgundy remains its spiritual heartland, Pinot Noir has since traveled the globe, finding success in other cooler climates, notably in California, Oregon, New Zealand, and Germany. This grape is a challenge for any grower, as it requires specific conditions to show its best, and yet the wines it produces are capable of such a captivating and singular character.
