Today’s exceedingly special 2012 “Tout un Monde” marks the 100th year since Louis Magnin’s grandfather planted the vines that give life to this wine, but I must lead with a bit of unfortunate news before diving any further into the hype: We hardly have any to share, far less than the 2011 and 2010 vintages we briskly sold through earlier in the year. So, if you’re among the horde of subscribers who were left empty-handed, the only advice I can proffer is to stop reading and secure a couple of bottles now because those who have already tasted Magnin’s rarefied liquid will be champing at the bit to get ahold of this painfully limited 2012 release.
There’s a reason Bettane & Desseauve deemed Domaine Louis Magnin one of “the world’s greatest wines”—this extraordinarily limited flagship cuvée hails from organic Mondeuse vines first planted in 1912, and when combined with old-school winemaking and an incredibly long cellar aging, it becomes one of the most hypnotizing reds on Planet Earth. I’ll leave you with this: When Magnin’s iconic importer first poured us this magical wine, he told us of a top private collector who would only buy and drink exorbitantly priced “unicorn” wines—that is, until he blind-tasted Magnin’s “Tout un Monde.” Now, he buys it whenever he can. Truly, this is the pinnacle of Mondeuse and fine French wine. Only 250-300 bottles slip into America per year, and we own a small fraction of that allocation. Once it's gone, it’s gone for good.
Founded by namesake Louis Magnin in the late 1800s, today the estate is run by his grandson, also named Louis, and his wife Béatrice, in the famed Arbin cru of Savoie. In a refreshing role reversal, you’ll find Louis buried in the cellar and Béatrice actively tending to their eight hectares of vines who was comically quoted in a GuildSomm article saying, “Better my husband stays in the winery, where he just watches and doesn’t touch anything.” Really, “land first” is the motto here, especially with today’s top-of-the-line cuvée: “Tout un Monde” comes from a .7-hectare sliver of 100+-year-old vines (planted by the “original” Louis Magnin). With such precious and rare real estate, they want these ancient Mondeuse trunks to express themselves naturally, which is why they farm them 100% organically, with biodynamic practices.
When it comes time for harvest, yields are unrealistically low: just 15hl/ha—compare that to Grand Cru Burgundy which allows up to 35! The grapes are picked by hand, de-stemmed, and transferred into stainless steel vats. After a multi-week, ambient-yeast fermentation, the wine is moved to old demi-muids (500-liter French barrels) for 18 months. They then allow it to mature in bottle for several years before release.
A little more on Mondeuse: This is the mountain cousin of Northern Rhône Syrah—literally, in the sense that DNA analysis has linked it to Syrah and figuratively because it’s been cultivated in the mountainous region of Savoie for centuries. Ancient Gallic tribes first planted it prior to Roman invasion, and the vines survived long after they were gone. Columella, the famous Roman writer on the topic of farming, referred to it as “the grape variety that ripens amidst the snow,” and its nickname maldoux (“bittersweet”) appears in texts as early as 1731.
I only have one demand when enjoying this wine: Make your bottle stretch as long as possible. It’s beautiful after a 60-minute decant, sublime on day two, and a savory tour de force on day three. Although it comes in at a mere 12.5% alcohol, Magnin’s 2012 “Tout un Monde” is the antithesis of lighthearted and playful: this is a brooding, robust, chiseled-from-earth powerhouse that erupts with dark mountain fruit and visceral layers of minerality. It reveals a dense ruby in the glass and spills out myriad brambleberries, black cherry skin, wild plums, damp violets, cracked pepper, leather, crushed rock, exotic spice, underbrush, scrub, and an underlying animale component. On the palate, the unmistakable sauvage component stands center stage with a supporting cast of crushed minerals, savory earth, spice, and dried berry fruit. It drinks like a Côte-Rôtie or Hermitage gone wild, erupting with rustic fruit and a striking wild and rustic character. But ultimately, this ancient-vine Mondeuse bottling has intricacies that truly make it a one-of-a-kind experience. It’s to be enjoyed now and throughout the next decade. Cheers!
