ABOUT: Frederic began working with his father Michel in the early 1990’s who was selling most of his fruit to local negociants rather than making his own wine. The Magnien’s own some of the finest vineyard plots in Burgundy and Frederic convinced his dad to let him make wine and bottle it himself. The wines were well received, so in 1994 father and son formed a partnership to domaine bottle some of their individual parcels, as well as creating their own negociant business. Currently, Michel manages all of the vineyard work which is conducted using biodynamic methods, and Frederic manages all of the winery work, for both the domain and the negociant. It sounds like a tremendous amount of work, but well worth the efforts because they produce some of the finest, most detailed wine in Burgundy. TASTE: Les Ruchots is a premier cru within the Morey-Saint-Denis appellation, with Clos de Tarts being its upstairs neighbor and Chambolle-Musigny to the south. This Pinot Noir has a strong framework with expressive, dark fruit aromas and flavors. Baking spices are woven in with thyme, rosemary, black pepper, black tea and dark chocolate. Dried herbs reign supreme, with a medium body, vibrant tannins and a bolt of medium+ acidity which gives this wine broad shoulders. Superior quality and will develop for decades.
PAIR: Roasted spicy sweet potatoes with fennel and oregano, grilled eggplant with sage, truffled green beans, sun dried potato chips, and carrots with ginger and garlic.
