2022 Domaine Henri Magnien
With the 2022 vintage, we mark the 4th year that Vins Rare is the West Coast importer for Domaine Henri Magnien; purchasing, importing and selling to you, the consumer (with domaine-direct pricing). Sprinkled on top have been a few exclusive retailers and restaurants.
It’s been a real pleasure introducing you to the wines and receiving such positive feedback with your notes and repeat orders. It’s also been lovely having them so warmly received at some of the top restaurants; a handful of our dream scenario Michelan Star restaurants got on board and are pouring Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes by the glass with tremendous success.
It's taken a couple of vintages, a few free-shipping offers and a discount here or there, but I believe my introductory efforts have garnered the wine some earnest followers. The overwhelming, unanimous feedback reinforces my belief that in the 30 years I’ve been selling Burgundy wine, I've never worked with such a special domaine making wines of this quality.
I met with Charles Magnien early December and spent the day with him. We obviously talked about his wines and winemaking quite a bit, but I also got a chance to really understand the passion, the intensity, and all of the little decisions that allow him to achieve the best possible result. These decisions made over the past several years have allowed his wines to become incrementally better with each passing year and 2022 is a spectacular vintage at Chez Magnien! The press has been stellar!
The 4 major Burgundy critics have yet again unanimously bestowed high praise for all of the wines. I have compiled all of the reviews, along with A LOT of additional detailed information about the domaine on a separate webpage so you can bookmark it and reference it as needed. I invite you to explore the magic of Domaine Henri Magnien. In the meantime, if you haven’t hopped over there already, here are some cliff notes:
The two entry level wines, Bourgogne and Cote de Nuits Village offer some of the best value you can find out there for wines at this level. The 3 Gevrey village wines, especially the Vieilles Vignes and the Champerrier, I’d go head to head against any village wine from ANY producer in Gevrey - Rousseau, Bachelet and Fourrier included! The Aloxe Corton 1er is probably the sleeper in the lineup, as yet again it hits well above its pay grade. The Gevrey 1er Crus are a lesson in terroir - the Champeaux is the most forward, the Lavaux is probably the biggest and the Cazetieres is the most serious. In short, there is not a wine in the lineup that I would not highly recommend!
All 13 cuvees I could preach about, all with their merits, all with reasons to fall in love. Look, if you haven’t yet tried and fallen for Domaine Henri Magnien and if you like Burgundy wines that are red fruit leaning, showcase excellent terroir transparency, with mouth coating intensity, all wrapped in an elegant lingering finish, then, well, I don’t know what you’re waiting for because these wines are worth your attention!
