Domaine Stéphane Magnien

At the turn of the 20th century Victor Magnien established Domaine Magnien in Morey-Saint-Denis with an array of vineyards from Bourgogne up through to Grand Cru. He was succeeded by his son, Félix, just after the Second World War and, as his father before had done, he continued to sell the fruits of his labour to local négociants. Then it was Jean-Paul’s turn and he was the first to begin bottling his own wines and developing a national and then international market for them. In 2002 he was joined by his son, Stéphane, who worked alongside him until 2008, when he took full control of the domaine.

Thanks to his ancestors, Stéphane has some wonderful old vines amongst the 4.5 hectares in the domaine, the oldest being 120 years old! He is a thoughtful man, who likes to reflect and consider his next move calmly. He is not one to follow fads and keeps things fairly traditional, although this image of him perhaps underplays his quiet but steely ambition. He is evolving the quality of the domaine and its wines relentlessly, with small but important tweaks where needed.

At the moment, he is looking at investing in a new escalator to allow him to avoid using pumps so that he can make his tannins even finer. But, with space at a premium in the cuverie, it’s a more complex quandary than it might at first appear. In terms of vinification, everything in the cellar is destemmed except for his 1er Cru cuvée called Les Petites Noix, a blend of Clos Baulet and Les Gruenchers, and for his Charmes, into which he added 10% whole-bunch in 2023. New oak is sensibly used, between 20 and 50% depending on the level of the wine. Extraction is light and he only does a couple of pigeages for most wines, although the Charmes enjoys a little more.

The wines are nicely understated and display their origins very attractively. Prices at this domaine have always been very fair and they continue to be so.