Egly-Ouriet, Champagne Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru 'Les Crayeres' VV

Variety: Pinot Noir

Right after WWII, the Egly-Ouriet house was born. Francis Egly’s grandfather married Madame Ouriet with just 3 hectares of land to start from the Grand Cru area of Ambonnay. After taking over from his father, Francis Egly immediately converted the domaine to 100% estate bottling. In the process, he became one of the original pioneers of the grower Champagne movement, growing his name to be one of the top Champagne producers. He organically farms Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, both being 50 years old on average. Francis implements varied barrel aging from 1 to 5 years of age, letting every terroir express itself. Wine writer Peter Liem states, “If there are any Champagnes that fit the often-used description of ‘Burgundy with bubbles,’ Egly-Ouriet would be the leading candidate.”

It doesn’t get much better than this, even coming from a true pioneer of the grower Champagne movement. The Pinot Noir fruit comes from the Grand Cru village of Ambonnay from a single vineyard called “Les Crayeres” devoted to 70 year old vines and intensely chalky soils. Reserve juice is used for this wine, both from 2012 and 2013. The wine is both fermented and aged in barrel, some of which is new. The wine is aged on its lees for 76 months before being released.