Mugnier Absinthe Pyrogène

Ceramic match striker advertising Mugnier absinthe

circa 1910

Absinthe Mugnier was an absinthe brand produced by the Frédéric Mugnier firm, a distiller based in Dijon.

History of the firm

In the mid-19th century, Frédéric Mugnier (sometimes called François Frédéric) founded a major liqueur and aperitif business in Dijon.
The company prospered greatly thanks to the absinthe boom, marketing products such as:

• Absinthe
• Crème de cassis
• Various liqueurs
• Aromatized wines and aperitifs

With the profits from this business, Frédéric Mugnier gradually purchased vineyards in Burgundy during the phylloxera crisis (1880s), followed by the Château de Chambolle-Musigny and the monopoly of the Clos de la Maréchale (1902). This is the origin of the current Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, one of the most prestigious estates in Chambolle-Musigny.

Advertising

The brand remained famous thanks to a beautiful advertising poster created around 1895 by Lucien Lefèvre (a student of Jules Chéret).
It depicts a smiling French legionnaire brandishing a bottle of Absinthe Mugnier. This poster was reproduced in the famous series Les Maîtres de l’Affiche (plate 135, 1898).

End of operations

The liqueur business was weakened by the war and economic difficulties. Around 1950, the Mugnier family sold the distillery business (acquired by l’Héritier-Guyot) to focus exclusively on the vineyard.

Today, the Mugnier name is primarily associated with fine Burgundy wines, but Absinthe Mugnier remains a testament to the golden age of Dijon distillers during the Belle Époque.