MAGNIEN 4th of July Savings - 20%
Today, I’d like to stand on a mountaintop and sing the praises of Gevrey Chambertin’s rising star - Domaine Henri Magnien. But rather than do that, I’ll let this offer sing “ABSOLUTE BEST DEAL!” and you can decide for yourselves. Please note, I’ll never offer this wine for less than today’s offer, it’s simply too big of a star in the Vins Rare portfolio. Frankly, it’s probably the best value you’ll find in ANY Burgundy wine sale.
The purpose of this offer is to evangelize to those who haven’t tried Henri Magnien yet (but discounts are open to all). I’ve written numerous times about these highly reviewed wines over the last several years, and most recently, a comprehensive story here:
The 2022 lineup of wines arrived in my warehouse in February in beautiful condition offering the same opulence and elegance I tasted while visiting the domaine in November. They definitely live up to the high praise bestowed by the critics!
It’s crazy though, a hardened wine professional like myself can still be surprised by how the wines change in the bottle, even over short periods of time. After the initial roll out and showings in March, I let the bottles rest. Then, two weeks ago, I opened a bottle of the Gevrey Vieilles Vignes and was amazed! It had added gravitas, while remaining elegant and there was more of a sappy quality to the fruit. As good as I felt it was in March, it is better now! I was so excited, I called Charles to tell him my thoughts. He replied “Bryan, if you think they are good now, wait until they are in bottle for 2-3 years.”
I’d put his Gevrey VV in a blind tasting with any of the other top growers from the village, Bachelet, Fourrier, Rousseau included. Henri Magien would more than hold its own. In a few years….bring it on!!
I’ve been importing this wine direct from the domaine since 2019 and have watched young Charles Magnien pour his heart and soul into all the minitiea. I’ve visited him every time I’ve been in France. Last November, I sampled the entire range of 2022s, which had been recently bottled. With 8 hectares of vineyards in some of the finest 1er cru vineyards of Gevrey Chambertin, it's not a surprise that, like me, those that have tasted the wines are true believers!
The process isn’t easy. The vineyard work here is serious and rigorous. When it rains, you can’t get the tractor in the vineyards and the work must all be done by hand. He tells me the start of the 2024 vintage has been brutal…”War!” War had probably been declared in 2021, what might be my favorite (albeit tragically limited) vintage. But what Charles learned with that vintage is that fermenting the wine at a cooler temperature produced a wine of extreme elegance, without sacrificing freshness, intensity and transparency. While we have a riper vintage in 2022, he was able to control the temperature (beauty of having state of the art equipment) thus producing a wine dancing on the tightrope between power and intensity versus elegance and transparency. They are truly spectacular wines!
If you don’t agree that this is one of the best values in Burgundy, I will pay to ship the wine back and I’ll refund your entire purchase, including the bottle you drank! The quality these wines offer does not exist at these price points!
