Episode 405 of I’ll Drink to That! was released recently, and it features Frederic Mugnier of Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier, based in the Burgundy town of Chambolle-Musigny.
Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier is a revered name now, and a favorite Burgundy source for many astute buyers, but the great esteem associated with the label is fairly new. As recently as the early 1980s, you would not have been able to find a bottle with the J-F Mugnier name on it, and the main vineyard source wasn’t available to the winery before 2004. Indeed, Frederic Mugnier had spent a good deal of time in non-wine drinking countries before he arrived in Burgundy in 1985 and put his bag down in the family cellar. Which is part of what makes his story so interesting: here was a person who was not at all a part of the Burgundy milieu, who rose to the top of it. What spurred this evolution? From Frederic’s point of view, it was clearly the family vineyard holdings, which he does an excellent job of describing in terms of their palate presence. But it also seems that this man developed several key philosophies in his approach to wine over time, and he opens up about those in this interview. If you are curious about what it takes to make consistently excellent Burgundy, year after year, this is an interview to listen to for sure.
Listen to this episode:
I’ll Drink to That is the world’s most listened-to wine podcast, hosted by Levi Dalton. Levi has had a long career working as a sommelier in some of the most distinguished and acclaimed dining rooms in America. He has served wine to guests of Restaurant Daniel, Masa, and Alto, all in Manhattan. Levi has also contributed articles on wine themes to publications such as The Art of Eating, Wine & Spirits magazine, Bon Appetit online, and Eater NY. Check out his pictures on Instagram and follow him on Twitter: @leviopenswine
