Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier produces wines best described as desert island Pinot Noir. We're talking about the shortlist. One cannot overstate how beloved these red Burgundies really are.

The domaine lies in the heart of the village of Chambolle-Musigny, home to the most ethereal wines of Burgundy. Mugnier's gentle approach to winemaking is more synonymous with Chambolle-Musigny (Dubbed the Queen of Burgundy) than any other producer. In fact, Mugnier only produces one Pinot Noir from outside—the Premier Cru Monopole Clos de la Maréchale in Nuits-Saint-Georges.

Mugnier applies the lifted style of his Chambolle wines to his Maréchale, hailing from a village better known for dark earth and muscular structure. Maréchale lies at the southernmost end of N-S-G, coming from the Premeaux commune, described as the most elegant wines of the appellation for centuries. Here, oolitic limestone and sandy soils are wildly different from the rest of the village. This terroir plays as much a role in the elegance of the wine here as Mugnier's soft touch in the cellar.

Maréchale shows a stunning array of red fruits like pomegranate and wild strawberry, a tell-tale mocha note, and finishes with a sappy, black cherry core. Mugnier de-stems 100% during fermentation. Punching down of the cap is very gentle and done relatively infrequently, and new oak usage is minimal. The goal is to never over-extract too much tannin or color. These wines are on the paler end of the spectrum, dominated as much by their notes of roses and violets as they are by fruit. Mugnier is the essence of perfumed Burgundy.