Domaine Stéphane Magnien Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2024

Domaine Stéphane Magnien Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is drawn from one holding in the lower Mazoyères sector of the cru.

Around 0.20 hectares of shallow earth over gravel and yellow clay, planted through the 1980s, sets up the broader style here; thirty per cent new oak across twelve months, no fining and normally no filtration.

Ample and generous on the nose, with superb volume and melted, balanced tannins running through the close. Give it a decade, serve at 16-18°C and pair with venison or truffled beef.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.

Type: Red Wine
Style: Full-bodied, Dry
Grape Varietal: Pinot Noir
Tastes Like: A grand cru red Burgundy: Pinot Noir with the depth and structure of Gevrey-Chambertin
Alcohol Percentage: 13%
Closure: Cork
Size: 750mL
Appellation: Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, France's protected designation of origin; grand cru is the top of Burgundy's four vineyard ranks)
Region: Gevrey-Chambertin, Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France
Terroir: About 0.2 hectares in the lower Mazoyères sector of Charmes-Chambertin: shallow earth over gravel and yellow clay, with vines planted through the 1980s
Aging: Twelve months in French oak barrels, thirty per cent of them new, bottled without fining and normally without filtration
Serving Temperature: 16-18℃

Domaine Stéphane Magnien is a small family estate in Morey-Saint-Denis, in Burgundy's Côte de Nuits, with its cellar in the 18th-century family house just behind the village church. Stéphane is the fourth generation, after Victor, Félix and his father Jean-Paul. Félix made the wine but sold it to négociants (merchant houses); Jean-Paul was the first to bottle it under the family name, and Stéphane took over in 2008 after several years working alongside him. The domaine is tiny, under five hectares across village, premier cru and grand cru sites in Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin, and many of the vines are old, a good share of them the small-berried Pinot Tordu. The vineyards are ploughed and no herbicides are used, the wines are fermented with natural yeasts, and they are bottled without fining or filtration.

The family's Charmes-Chambertin comes from a single plot of about 0.2 hectares in Mazoyères, the lower part of the grand cru, whose wines may legally be sold as Charmes-Chambertin. The soil here is shallow, over gravel and yellow clay, which gives a broader, more generous style of grand cru. The 2024 is a young wine for the cellar and should be given about a decade before opening.

Game: Venison loin with grand veneur sauce
Beef: Beef fillet with shaved black truffle
Lamb: Rack of lamb with a herb crust
Mushrooms: Wild mushroom and chestnut pie

Trou du Cru: A small Burgundian washed-rind cheese in the Époisses style, rich enough for a grand cru
Langres: A creamy washed-rind cheese from the plateau north of Burgundy
Beaufort d'Été: A summer-milk Alpine cheese with the depth to sit beside a structured red
Morbier: A semi-soft cheese from the Jura, mellow and savoury

Noisettes de Chevreuil Sauce Grand Veneur (Venison with Grand Veneur Sauce)

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 800g venison loin (farmed venison is widely available), trimmed and cut into 8 thick medallions
• 375mL red Burgundy or other Pinot Noir
• 1 carrot and 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 8 juniper berries and 10 black peppercorns, crushed
• 2 thyme sprigs and 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 40g butter
• 250mL beef or veal stock
• 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
• 60mL thickened cream
• Salt

Instructions:

1. Put the venison in a dish with the wine, carrot, onion, juniper, peppercorns, thyme and bay. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
2. Lift out the meat and pat dry. Strain the marinade, keeping the vegetables and liquid separately.
3. For the sauce, heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan and brown the marinade vegetables for 5 minutes. Add the marinade liquid and reduce by two thirds, then add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain, return to the pan and stir in the redcurrant jelly and cream. Simmer until glossy and season with salt.
4. Heat the remaining oil and half the butter in a heavy frying pan over high heat. Season the medallions and cook for 2-3 minutes each side for medium rare. Rest for 5 minutes.
5. Whisk the remaining butter into the sauce and serve over the venison with celeriac purée and braised red cabbage.

Grand veneur means master of the hunt, and this peppery sauce, sweetened with redcurrant jelly and finished with cream, is the classic French way to serve venison in the hunting season. Lean, rich game and a deep, structured Gevrey-Chambertin grand cru are one of Burgundy's great autumn combinations.