Domaine J.F. Mugnier

“The quality of wine cannot be defined on a linear scale. Quality in wine is an aesthetical question, there is no absolute truth. It is subjective. There is no referee that can decide what is good and what is better and not as good, it just doesn’t mean anything. Of course, we do our best to make the best possible wines, but the best is not enough. What is really important is that each wine has a personality of its own, each wine must be distinct from each other one.” - Frédéric Mugnier

Frédéric Mugnier, the current owner/ winemaker of the famed J.F. Mugnier wines, started out his career as an oil engineer. Born in 1955, and having finished his studies in engineering, his first job took him out to Saudi Arabia. In 1985, the year he turned 30, tired of living abroad, he took a sabbatical and returned to Chambolle, the home of his family estate. After working on the estate throughout 1985 and attending the oenology school in Beaune the same year, he settled into what would become his life’s work.

Although Frédéric came into the family business in 1985, the domaine was hardly a new entrant on the Burgundy scene. The estate was founded in 1864 by Frédéric Mugnier, a liquor-maker in Dijon, and included nearly twenty hectares of some of the best vineyards in Chambolle-Musigny and Nuits-Saint-Georges. The Mugnier wines did well even in the early days and throughout the first half of the 20th century, being exported to the United States and being seen in some of the best restaurants throughout Europe.

However, things took a slight turn when Jacques-Frédéric, the father of the current owner Frédéric, inherited the estate in the 40s. Following the economic crisis of the 1930s, Jacques-Frédéric, a lawyer-turned-banker, decided that the vines would not be his career, sold the Mugnier aperitif company and leased the vineyards to Faiveley. In 1950, he left Burgundy to pursue a banking career in Saudi Arabia. Later in his life, Jacques-Frédéric brought the vineyards back into the family, when the Faiveley leases expired in 1977, but the grapes were primarily sold to negotiants. And only 3 years later, Jacques-Frédéric passed, leaving his wife to run the estate from afar. It was not until 1985, with the return of the young Frédéric to the family business, that the business has since regained stability and have flourished under the family name.

Stylistically, Mugnier wines are known for their shockingly pure and elegant approach. They capture the essence of non-interventionist winemaking, where the winemaker stays out of the way and lets the terroir to fully come through. The result is some of the most elegant and delicate Chambolles anywhere.