The 2022 red Burgundies are arriving apace and, as a group so far, they’ve been sensational! Coming on the heels of the massive, ultra-ripe 2020s and the very serious 2021s, they are also a refreshing change; wines that have amazing fruit but also purity, definition and transparency. In short- they pop! And I ask myself, for $50 would I rather have a bottle of Magnien’s magnificent Bourgogne Cotes d’Or Rouge or a similarly-priced Pinot from the Russian River, say. For me, the answer was simple. Of course, the choice is yours not mine, but if you are a lover of vibrant, characterful red Burgundy, these are two wonderful choices. We all know Domaine Michel Magnien. This exquisite Morey-Saint-Denis producer is justly renowned for its great holdings throughout both Morey and next-door Gevrey-Chambertin and has, over the past few years, evolved into a Burgundy producer of 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 experimenting with organic practices in the late 1990s and the entire production was certified biodynamic by Demeter by 2015, and now their Grand and Premier Cru holdings now get amazing reviews and routinely fetch prices high in the triple-digit prices. 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 are much more transparent and aromatically pure than formerly. The Bourgogne Cotes d’Or sets a very high bar for this appellation. Coming from several regional and village-level vineyards spread across the Côte de Nuits, these are vines planted by Frédéric’s grandfather with an average vine age of 50 years. The cuvee was considered highly enough in 2022 that Frédéric used around 20% whole clusters in the fermentation, a process reserved only for the most-worthy wines in the cellar. There is a lot of Morey St. Denis DNA in this cool, dark and fragrant bottle of Burgundy and its cinnamon-y, sage-y complexity will marry gorgeously, we think, with all kinds of game, meat and grilled dishes for the next six or eight years. We think it’s an excellent value for what you get here. Or maybe you want to raise the stakes a bit and get a few bottles of one of Magnien’s crown jewels, the Gevrey-Chambertin Les Seuvrées, a lieu-dit lying directly below the grand cru of Charmes-Chambertin. The word Seuvrées comes from the Latin “separatas” and was named because the plot separates Gevrey from Morey and shares the best attributes of both- the gorgeous natural acidity and crisp tannins of the former combined with the almost unctuous confit-like fruit and sexy aromatics of the latter. It’s a fine, fine bottle of Burgundy we think would be a fine pairing with a Provencal-style leg of lamb or a rich confit of duck. The nice thing about these 2021s is that, with a bit of air, both will show their stuff at dinner tonight but I would sure be glad to find either in the cellar in a decade. (Can your Russian River Pinot do that? Both highly recommended and, for what you’re getting, relative bargains too!