You can’t stop Bernard Magrez, you can only hope to contain him. The guy built a formidable business, sold it and started buying Bordeaux chateaux. He owns four Grand Cru classes in Bordeaux including the jewel, Pape Clement, as well as several other properties in the region. But that wasn’t enough, so he now has a world-wide enterprise that includes efforts from Napa Valley, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Morocco, as well as other areas of France.
His enterprises have been very successful because he has a good eye for terroirs and has Michel Rolland on his speed dial. Perhaps the most significant aspect that ‘all things Magrez’ seem to have is a well measured, supple, engaging profile that one can count on in everything they produce. Bernard realized a long time ago that people liked to drink smooth, fruit driven, supple wines and that style has been the common theme through all of his wines no matter where in his far flung portfolio they come from.
He also had the vision to market his wines under one important branding umbrella. He goes about marketing his juice more like Louis Vuitton sells designer goods than the typical corporate alcohol purveyor. He made sure that his name on the bottle meant something and the Magrez has come to be synonymous polished, integrated, elegant wines emphasizing sleek, tender fruit and well integrated, ripe structure. We have even kind of coined the verb ‘to Magrez’, meaning to take something vinous and refine it to an exceptional degree.
Apparently in need of a new conquest, Bernard took his talents to the Rhone Valley and ‘Magrezzed’ a couple of parcels of Grenache and Syrah into a Cotes du Rhone Villages that can play to a crowd of folks wearing Ferragamo shoes and Hermes ties. We’re pretty sure there has to be some credit given to the marvelous 2016 vintage. The quality of the fruit matters even to a magician like Magrez and, as we and others have said repeatedly, 2016 is something special in that regard. But the level of integration and harmony to this wine, particularly given the sometimes more rustic origins of the Cotes du Rhone, are definitely a consistent and significant part of the ‘house style’ of Magrez.
The Bernard Magrez Mon Cotes du Rhone Villages 2016 is the first go-round we have seen in the Rhone for them, and we have been dealing directly with the company for some years now (which also helps us save on the price as we direct import it). The Magrez stamp here is unmistakable. Plush, sleek, fresh and smooth, Magrez even puts ‘mon’ (French for ‘my’) in the name, further putting his personal touch on it. This is the ‘Magrez experience’ and, believe us, it works as well in this part of the world as everywhere else.
The nose billows subtly integrated notes of plum, violet, mulberry, and an insistent minerality. As it enters the palate, it is sweet, supple, expansive, harmonious, and beautifully proportioned. The descriptors and texture are curiously closer to a weighty, mid-range Burgundy than your typical, chewy “Cotes du Rhone”, but that is the Magrez way. As such, it is also a consummate value at a mere $14, definitely a wine that plays above its station.
Magrez is pretty tight-lipped about sourcing or winemaking, preferring that the results speak for themselves. That it does that eloquently now, and likely will five years from now. There were few scraps of commentary, though this piece from James Suckling makes the point quite well. “Attractive aromas of plums and dark berries with hints of violets and burnt orange. Medium body, lightly dusty tannins and a juicy, flavorful finish. A satisfying and delicious Rhone red. Drink now. 92 Points!”
“Satisfying and delicious”, indeed. This is a classic example of why one of our chief operating philosophies is to seek out ‘little wines’ from top flight producers. Such folks simply have higher standards and work at an elite level on everything they do. They don’t know any other way, and the results show. Bernard Magrez is certainly one of those people. Supplies are finite so make your move early.