Egly-Ouriet

Egly-Ouriet's modern story starts in 1945, when Francis Egly's grandfather began cultivating three hectares in Ambonnay - Grand Cru on the southern flank of the Montagne de Reims, historically Pinot Noir country. Francis, the fourth generation, took over from his father Michel in 1982 and returned the house to 100% estate-bottling; before then, some fruit had been sold to négociants. His children Clémence (exports) and Charles (vineyards) are now involved, and the succession has quietly begun.

Roughly twenty hectares today, almost entirely Grand or Premier Cru. The Grand Cru holdings are concentrated in Ambonnay (~8 ha) with smaller parcels in Verzenay and Bouzy. The Premier Cru holdings are in Vrigny, Bisseuil, and more recently Trigny. About 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay on the Grand Cru sites, plus Meunier for the Vrigny bottling - Egly is one of the few producers who takes Meunier seriously when most still treat it as filler. Average vine age hovers around forty years; the Les Crayères parcel in Ambonnay was planted in 1946-47 on thirty centimetres of topsoil over pure chalk.

Vinification uses a mix of steel and French oak, the barrels famously sourced from Burgundian winemaker Dominique Laurent. Yields are punishing. Dosage is always low (1-3 g/L, well inside Extra Brut territory). Francis lets each wine decide whether to go through malolactic, vintage by vintage. The defining practice is the long lees aging. By house convention:

• Les Prémices (from the Trigny fruit) - 36 months
• Les Vignes de Vrigny Premier Cru (100% Meunier) - 36 months
• Les Vignes de Bisseuil Premier Cru - 48 months
• Brut Tradition Grand Cru (~70% Pinot / 30% Chardonnay) - 48 months
• Grand Cru V.P. (Vieillissement Prolongé) - 84 months
• Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru - 72 months, 100% Pinot Noir from the 1946-47 vines, 1 g/L dosage. The only single-vineyard cuvée and a benchmark for what old-vine Ambonnay Pinot can do.
• Brut Millésimé Grand Cru - vintage
• Ambonnay Rouge Grand Cru - Coteaux Champenois, still Pinot Noir from the same Grand Cru sites. Rare, collectable, and one of the only still reds from Champagne anyone talks about in serious tones.

The signature is weight and vinosity rather than grace. Champagnes that read more like Burgundy than like the textbook - oak-inflected, oxidatively framed, with a texture that owes more to the Côte d'Or than to the chalk-purity aesthetic most grower Champagne pursues. Tiny production, tight allocation, cult status alongside Selosse, Larmandier-Bernier, and Lassaigne.