Frederic Magnien

Frédéric Magnien is widely regarded as one of the shrewdest and sharpest young winemakers working in the Côte d'Or today. His father Michel Magnien is a well-respected vigneron who produces wine in his own right, as well as being responsible for the vineyard management of Maison Louis Latour. Frédéric Magnien is the fifth generation of his family in Morey-St-Denis. Having worked with his father after wine school, and then travelled to work with Pinot producers in California and Australia, Fréderic rejoined his father in 1993 and two years later created his own négociant label, which has proved one of the recent success stories in Burgundy.

Frédéric has no vineyards - his talent lies in sourcing fruit from small holdings from the best plots in the finest vineyards. When he started out, he had many contacts through his father and he has now built up a network of growers in Morey-St-Denis, Gevrey-Chambertin, and Chambolle-Musigny. In the winery, Frédéric adopts a hands-off approach as much as is practically possible, enabling each wine to display its individual vineyard origins. His wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered and are as modern as the presentation, with flamboyant labels on turbo-charged bottles: enormously to the taste of some consumers but less so to others.

Jasper Morris MW, author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.