NV Brut Grand Cru, Egly-Ouriet

£270 per 6 bottle case in bond

NV Extra-Brut Grand Cru VP, Egly-Ouriet

£350 per 6 bottle case in bond

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We have been discussing the outstanding quality of Francis Egly’s champagnes for almost a decade. It has not been hard work; every time I get the chance to taste an Egly-Ouriet champagne I am struck by the precision and purity. They are highly individual Champagnes that are now receiving the credit they are due. Certainly, over the last decade, critics have started to recognise the quality inherent in these champagnes and, consequently, stocks tick through a lot faster than they used to. Fortunately, we receive good allocations and regularly hold the NV Brut Grand Cru and the NV Extra-Brut VP (you’ll see why it is abbreviated below) in stock.
 
At Atlas, our focus has always been on individual grower champagnes over and above the wines of the Grandes Marques and larger producers. Why? Simply put a combination of quality and value. I still struggle to understand why clients pay more for a lesser wine just because it is from a familiar name.
 
Just recently William Kelley commented as follows in The Wine Advocate:
 
The wines of Egly-Ouriet ‘occupy an even more important place, however, in the recent history of Champagne. If the region today produces wines fit to stand alongside the greatest of the world, and if small growers now set the qualitative standards in a region long defined by large négociants, Francis Egly must take a considerable share of the credit’. William Kelley, April 2021
 
He is just the latest critic to extol the virtues of these wines.; we could cite so many others. Antonio Galloni has previously described the Egly “range of stellar, captivating Champagnes”  further stating “Make no mistake about it, though, these wines are at the very top of the pecking order in Champagne today.”
 
For those of you who may not recall the background of the estate, here is my note form summary of the key points. 

• All of Egly’s wines draw on fruit from old vines in the Grand Cru villages of Ambonnay, Bouzy and Verzenay. This comment applies to his superb NV Tradition as much as the most heralded wines in his range; there is no Premier Cru fruit employed.

• All of Egly’s wines are aged well beyond the norm before release. Nothing is hurried at all chez Egly; each cuvée benefits, in terms of complexity, from extended ageing of at least four years on their lees in bottle, way ahead of the statutory minimum for Champagne. The Vieillissement Prolongé (or V.P. for short) is the most extreme example spending 84 months on its lees.

• All of Egly’s wines are low dosage (dosage relates to the amount of sugar in the liqueur d’expedition that is added after the disgorgement process. This adjusts the wine’s overall sweetness/dryness). In Egly’s wines, there is nothing to mar the sheer purity.

• All of Egly’s wines are capable of developing in bottle, growing in complexity – that comment applies to the NV Tradition as much as it does to the Blanc de Noirs ‘Les Crayères’.

• And finally, these wines are produced in smaller quantities than most of the Champagnes with which you may be familiar; they are not seeking to further the aspirations of a brand, but rather to represent their origins. They are a far cry from some of the near-debased, commercial output of many famous names in Champagne. Making wines of such high and unerring quality requires not only considerable practical skill, but equally near maniacal focus. That’s exactly what you get with Egly-Ouriet.

And here are two impressive non-vintage cuvees, both made from Grand Cru fruit, both available for immediate delivery.