Stéphane Magnien Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru ‘Les Faconnières’ 2014

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

These notes from the importer of Les Faconnières and Stépahne Magnien are apt.

Les Faconnières lies just below the Grand Cru vineyards in Morey-Saint-Denis. As a matter of fact, you can draw an equilateral triangle whose three points would be in Clos-Saint-Denis, Clos de la Roche, and Les Faconnières. The soil is poor and the old vines yield an exceptionnally aromatic wine. Only 2 other producers make wine from this parcel.

The wine is already showing its potential, but after another 5 years of cellar time, we anticipate it will be entering its optimal drinking plateau and staying there for many years. Its aromas express dark red berries, herbs, a healthy dose of earthy mineral and tar, and a kiss of vanilla bean. The palate is sturdy, yet balanced. The fruit is part of the package, which at this time is coiled, needing either aeration or a few more years of cellaring, but there’s no question that the fruit is just waiting for the structure to back off one small step for it to shine. The mouth feel is medium bodied with fine tannins, and the finish is balanced and all in line. The wines from Morey-Saint-Denis can be very expressive, and this young Morey has the ingredients to become a great wine some day in the not too distant future.

You can enjoy now but I highly recommend decanting for 90 minutes.

For many years we have been enjoying wines from Domaine Jean Paul and Stéphane Magnien. A small domaine in Morey-Saint-Denis that makes superb, subtle, and old-fashioned wines of terroir from their 4.5 hectares. This tiny Domaine was established in 1897 by Victor Magnien. In 113 years of winemaking, there has only been 4 winemakers! Victor’s son Felix, then Felix ‘s son Jean-Paul and Jean-Paul’s son, Stephane, who is now in charge.The domaine is proud to say that for four generations they have not used herbicides, using plowing by horse and tractor to preserve the microbial life of the soil and force the vine’s roots to descend more deeply, pulling great typicity from the terroir. “Far from ‘vins médiatique’ you will find  a subtle wine, well-structured, respecting the terroir and the vintage, with great length on the palate… all in finesse. There is a high percentage of old vines in their parcels, including a great deal of “Pinot Tordu,” a small-berried,  aromatic old clone of Pinot. Minimal new oak is used, about 15% for the premier and grand cru wines, and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. Hand harvesting, of course, and long wild-yeast fermentation .

The Domaine has a wonderful selection of vineyard in Morey St Denis and Chambolle Musigny, right in the heart of the Cote de Nuit. They range from perfectly situated village parcels to 1er cru and Grand Cru.

The wines of Chambolle Musigny are renowned for producing beautifully fragrant and perfumed wines with incredible finesse and length of palate.

The wines of Morey St Denis combines the fineness of Chambolle Musigny and the structure of Gevrey Chambertin, they have a little more grunt and sauvage character.