It’s rare to say ‘Burgundy’ and ‘bargain’ in the same sentence but it’s all relative, right? I ask myself, for $50, would I rather have a bottle of Magnien’s magnificent Fixin or a similarly-priced Pinot Noir from the Russian River or Willamette Valley, say. While I love those wines, in the case of the Burgundy we have for you today, for me, the answer is simple. Of course, the choice is yours not mine, but if you are a lover of vibrant, characterful red Burgundy, this is a pretty exciting wine. We all know Domaine Michel Magnien. This exquisite Morey-Saint-Denis producer is justly renowned for its great holdings in Morey and up the Cotes in Gevrey, Marsanny and Fixin and has, over the past few years, evolved into a top-flight producer with a singular style and philosophy. The family long sold their grapes to the local cooperative until 1993, when Michel’s son Frédéric joined the business and persuaded his father to make and bottle wine themselves. Frédéric began organic farming in the late 1990s and the entire production was certified biodynamic in 2015, and now their Grand and Premier Cru holdings now get amazing reviews and routinely fetch prices high in the triple-digits. Frédéric has gradually evolved his wines from a richer, notably oaky style to an aging regimen now solely in used barrels and clay amphorae. The wines now, while still rich and always surprisingly intense, are much more transparent and aromatically pure than formerly. We’ve are big fans! The village of Fixin (fee-sahn), in the old days, was known only to Burgundy’s most ardent bargain hunters. Its position so far north in the Cote de Nuits was much cooler and its reds were known to be spicy and peppery while being lean and mean at the same time. That was then. This is now. The wines of Fixin, like so many other parts of Burgundy’s hinterlands, are no longer under the serious Burgundy drinker’s radar! Thanks to a warmer climate, the wines are way richer now, but still with Pinot Noir’s pure aromatics and its elegant, very distinctive frame. The Magnien 2020 is a dark, earthy Fixin with chocolate-covered black cherries, forest floor and ‘Grandma’s kitchen’ baking spices predominating a medium weight frame that is both generous and elegant. It’s dusky and cool but densely packed and with the sort of polish and sleek mouthfeel we find in of all of Magnien’s wines.  It’s also at the peak of its aging curve making it a splendid partner to a Provencal leg of lamb this very night!  At $45, it’s an unbeatable value. 36 bottles only.