Michel Magnien Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2017
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"Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru sits below Chambertin and includes the climat of Mazoyeres-Chambertin Grand Cru within its borders, a section of which reaches down to the D974. Magnien’s parcel is in Mazoyeres, which can be bottled as Charmes. The name charmes likely derives from champs, and means field or meadow. Its gentle slope of decayed limestone has an abundance of gravel and stones, allowing the vines to grow deep. Magnien's parcel was planted in 1953 and 1955, resulting in a wine with great richness and concentration. Forty percent whole clusters add sauvage aromas of spice to the ripe red and black fruit found on the nose and palate with medium weight and integrated tannins. This is a very pure expression of Charmes-Chambertin thanks to its élevage in a combination of used oak and clay jars."
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Frédéric Magnien farms his domaine under biodynamics, effectively magnifying the explosive power of his parcels in Charmes, some of them sustaining centenarian vines. The soil here is red, a thin layer tinged with iron over limestone rock. The smoky austerity of that earth seems to infuse this massive wine, slow to reveal itself, offering, at most, brisk and savory flavors of fruit skin that lengthen the wine’s tannins with gracious elegance. Grand and supple, this is a wine to wait on for a decade or more as its detailed expression begins to evolve.
Domaine Michel Magnien has evolved into a Burgundy producer of a singular style and philosophy from their cellars located in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis. Michel Magnien was born in 1946 and worked alongside his father Bernard from a young age. The Magniens sold their grapes to the local cooperative until 1993 when his son Frédéric joined the family business and persuaded his father to bottle the entire harvest by themselves. Frédéric Magnien began experimenting with organic practices in the late 1990s and the entire production was certified biodynamic by Demeter in 2015. Frédéric has also evolved the style of the wines and today élevage takes place in only used oak and clay jars.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
This small village is home to the Grands Crus in the farthest northerly stretches of Côte de Nuits and is famous for some of the deepest and firmest Burgundian Pinot Noir.
Gevrey boasts nine Grands Crus, the best of which are arguably Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. As with all of the fragmented vineyards of Burgundy, it isn’t easy to differentiate between the two, which are situated adjacent with Clos de Bèze slightly further up the hill than Le Chambertin. Clos de Bèze has a shallower soil and if you’re really counting, may produce wines less intense but more likely to charm. Some compare Le Chambertin in both power and plentitude only to the prized Romanée-Conti Grand Cru farther south in Vosne-Romanée.
Two other Grands Crus vineyards, Mazis-Chambertin (also written Mazy-) and Latricières-Chambertin command almost as much regard as Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. The upper part of Mazy, called Les Mazis Haut is the best and Latricières-Chambertin offers an abundance of juicy fruit and a silky texture in the warmer vintages.
Other Grands Crus are Ruchottes-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Mazoyères-Chambertin, Griotte-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin.
The most respected Pinot Noir wines from Gevrey-Chambertin are robust and powerful but at the same time, velvety and expressive: black fruit, black liquorice and chocolate come into play. After some time in the bottle, the wines are harmonious with bright and sometimes candied fruit, and aromas of musk, truffle and forest floor. These have staying power.