Domaine Stéphane Magnien Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Faconnières 2017

Domaine Stéphane Magnien Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Faconnières in this release has rested at the domaine since it was bottled.

The parcel lies on thin rocky soil along the boundary of the village's best-known grand cru; a year in wood, a fifth of the casks new, then tank, with no fining and normally no filtration.

Classical and fine-boned, the fruit now leaning red and savoury with forest floor sitting behind it. Drinking nicely at 16-18°C with roast pheasant, mushrooms on toast or a soft washed-rind cheese.

*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: Medium-bodied, Dry
Grape Varietal: Pinot Noir
Tastes Like: A mature premier cru red Burgundy: Pinot Noir with several years of bottle age
Alcohol Percentage: 13%
Closure: Cork
Size: 750mL
Appellation: Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, France's protected designation of origin; premier cru is the second-highest of Burgundy's four vineyard ranks)
Region: Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France
Terroir: Les Faconnières, on thin, rocky soil along the boundary of the Clos de la Roche grand cru
Aging: A year in French oak barrels, a fifth of them new, then time in tank, bottled without fining and normally without filtration; kept in the domaine's cellar since bottling
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.

This 2017 Les Faconnières has rested in the family's own cellar since it was bottled, a rare chance to buy a mature premier cru straight from the domaine. The vineyard lies beside Clos de la Roche, on thin, rocky soil, and with years in bottle the wine has moved from youthful to savoury and is ready to drink now.

Cheese: Whole Époisses baked until runny, with potatoes
Game birds: Roast pheasant with bread sauce
Veal: Veal chops with mushrooms
Vegetarian: Wild mushroom tart with thyme

Soumaintrain: A soft washed-rind cheese from northern Burgundy, the kind of cheese suggested for this wine
Langres: Creamy and gentle, kind to a mature Pinot Noir
Munster: A washed-rind cheese from Alsace with plenty of flavour
Comté (36 months): A long-aged Comté with savoury depth to echo a mature red

Époisses Rôti (Baked Whole Époisses with Potatoes)

Ingredients (Serves 4 as a starter or light meal):

• 1 whole Époisses (about 250g) in its wooden box
• 2 tbsp Marc de Bourgogne, brandy or dry white wine
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 800g small waxy potatoes, such as kipfler or Dutch cream
• To serve: crusty baguette, cornichons, thinly sliced jambon or prosciutto, and a green salad

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain and keep warm.
2. Take the cheese out of its box, remove any paper and return it to the wooden base. Wrap the box in foil so it doesn't burn.
3. Cut a few small slits in the top of the cheese, push in the garlic slices and thyme, and spoon over the Marc.
4. Bake on a tray for 15-20 minutes, until the centre is runny when pressed.
5. Put the cheese in the middle of the table and serve at once with the potatoes, bread, cornichons, ham and salad for dipping.

Époisses comes from the village of the same name in northern Burgundy, and its rind is washed in Marc de Bourgogne as it ripens. Baked whole, it becomes a rich, warming dish for cold evenings, and a mature red Burgundy from the Côte de Nuits is the local match, its savoury depth meeting the cheese's intensity.