The Beautiful 2022s from Stéphane Magnien in Morey-Saint-Denis!
Since the 2010 vintage we have been offering the lovely Morey-Saint-Denis and Chambolles from Stéphane Magnien, who took over from his father Jean-Paul beginning in 2002. We’re happy to offer a full range of these lovely wines from the excellent 2022 vintage, with even a few bottles of the Grand Crus!
The youthful and very capable Stéphane Magnien is the fourth generation in his family at this four hectare estate in Morey Saint-Denis. The domain has never used herbicides, doing a deep plowing to aerate the soil each winter (they changed from horse to tractor in the 1980s) and uses only organic composts. There is a high percentage of old vines, including a great deal of "Pinot Tordu," a small-berried, aromatic old clone of Pinot. Minimal new oak is used, about 15% to 25% for the premier and grand cru wines, and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. Hand harvesting, of course. This modest young winemaker is producing beautifully elegant wines, with minimal efforts to extract. Relatively light in body, the wines are aromatically extremely lovely and wonderfully balanced, with fine material and good acidity indicating great potential for aging. Under the radar until recently, the domain has received good notes from Burghound beginning with the 2020 vintage, and the 2022s are outstanding!
2022: “The growing season was very hot and dry yet the vines didn't really suffer much hydric stress. We did have some sunburned berries but those were easy to sort out. We picked from the 31st of August and the fruit was definitely ripe but importantly, not over ripe. One interesting aspect is that the potential alcohols were very good at between 13 and 13.5% yet there was essentially no difference between the regional wines and the grand crus!. As to the wines, I'm actually pretty happy with them as they are fresh, balanced and for such a warm growing season, offer excellent terroir transparency." Stéphane Magnien quoted in Burghound.
The quantities are of course very small, please one bottle max on the Grand Crus. Savvy shoppers will pick-up some of the delicious 2022 Bourgogne “Pur Pinot” to enjoy as the others mature…
