Sometimes, you just don’t know what to expect. Some wines are destined to perform well and others require a grueling fight in the trenches to move a few cases, but there are a rare few that downright stupify us with record-setting performances.
Louis Magnin’s 2011 “Tout un Monde” was one of those wines: When we offered this soul-stirring red just two months ago, we experienced a tsunami of orders that instantly wiped out the few remaining cases left in the world. We were left dumbstruck, but still quickly went to work on securing another vintage—if it was out there. After the first several calls with their importer, we emerged with nothing but were told to try again next month. We did, and that follow-up turned into one of the great red discoveries of the year: The very last fraction of Magnin’s 2010 “Tout un Monde.” If you missed the previous 2011 offering, read on to learn just how rare, unforgettable, and iconic this cellar-worthy red is. Everyone else, you know the drill.
Open up the wine list at a Michelin restaurant, and you’ll likely see verticals that will cause any connoisseur to swoon: DRC, Chave, Latour, Gaja, Vega Sicilia—we’re talking the finest, most sought-after wines in the world. But, open up one of those lists in France, and you’ll discover a name you probably aren’t familiar with: Magnin, and his rapturous “Tout un Monde.” There’s a reason Bettane & Desseauve lists Domaine Louis Magnin as one of ‘the world’s greatest wines.’ The brilliant combination of 100+-year-old organic vines, old-school winemaking, and incredibly long aging before release makes ‘Tout un Monde’ one of the most hypnotizing reds on the planet.
“Tout un Monde” drinks like a Côte-Rôtie or Hermitage gone wild, erupting with rustic mountain fruit and a striking sauvage character that truly makes it a one-of-a-kind experience. It makes sense: Mondeuse 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 rugged 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.
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 Certified Organic 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). Obviously, they want these ancient Mondeuse trunks to naturally express themselves. When it comes time for harvest, 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 (600-liter French barrels) for 18 months. They then allow the wine to mature in bottle for several years before release.
A 2010 French red has a great ring to it, doesn’t it? This was a year that seemed to bless every classic region across the country. Accordingly, it’s hard to know where to begin for today’s decade-old Magnin’s “Tout un Monde” because it pulls breathtaking traits from a number of regions: Northern Rhône, Bordeaux, even Piedmont...it’s such a fascinating wine. Given a 30-minute decant, you’ll uncover ripe and dried black, red, and blue fruits wafting out of the glass alongside a steady barrage of savory undertones like cracked black pepper, vintage leather, dried underbrush, damp violets, exotic spice. At 10 years old, this isn’t just alive and well—it’s intense, energetic, and firing on all cylinders. Each sip is powerful, brooding and, at times, haunting because within its dark layers of mountain fruit and earthiness, impeccable finesse lurks. This just goes to show you that a 12.5% ABV can indeed yield a full-bodied wine. You can certainly enjoy this now, but don’t rush to consume all of your bottles because there is infinite wisdom and evolution to be had over the next decade and beyond. Remember, once this sells out, that’s it forever!
