Behind The Wine: Egly-Ouriet

Egly-Ouriet is one of Champagne’s great paradoxes. A SommSelect favorite from day one. It is legendary among sommeliers and collectors, yet still quietly underrated outside the most serious wine circles. While the grandes marques dominate visibility, Egly-Ouriet has built its reputation on something far more durable: old vines, Grand Cru terroir, and a relentless focus on Pinot Noir. These are Champagnes of depth and authority, crafted not to chase fashion, but to rival the very best wines in the region on their own terms.

In a Champagne landscape increasingly divided between mass production and extreme rarity, Egly-occupies a narrowing middle ground. It remains fiercely allocated and difficult to find, yet still attainable for those who know where to look. That balance has made the domaine one of the most important reference points in modern grower Champagne.

History of Egly-Ouriet

The roots trace back to the 1930s, when the family farmed vines in Ambonnay and sold fruit to the large négociant houses that defined Champagne at the time. Like many growers, they began with modest holdings, just three hectares in one of the Montagne de Reims’ most prized Grand Cru villages.

The turning point came in 1982, when Francis Egly, the fourth generation, took control of the domaine. He made a decisive break from the past by ending grape sales and committing fully to estate bottling. This shift allowed them to control every stage of production, from vineyard decisions to long cellar aging. It also marked the beginning of Egly-Ouriet’s rise from respected grower to benchmark producer.

Today, the estate farms roughly 14 hectares, with nearly 10 classified as Grand Cru. The average vine age exceeds 40 years, and several parcels, including the famed Les Crayères, are planted to vines more than 60 years old

Grower Champagne and Why It Matters

To understand Egly-Ouriet, you have to understand grower Champagne. Unlike the grandes marques, which source fruit across the region and blend for consistency, grower producers farm their own vineyards and bottle under their own name. The wines reflect place before brand.

They were among the first growers to prove that estate Champagne could compete directly with prestige cuvées from houses like Krug, Bollinger, and Dom Pérignon. While Jacques Selosse helped redefine Chardonnay-driven grower Champagne, Egly-Ouriet did the same for Pinot Noir. Its wines showed that power, structure, and longevity could come from grower fruit without sacrificing precision or freshness.

By the early 2000s, they had become a reference for what terroir-driven Champagne could be. By 2023, grower Champagne had captured significant market share, and Egly-Ouriet stood at the center of that shift.

Vineyards of Egly-Ouriet

They are inseparable from Ambonnay. The village’s south-facing slopes and chalk-rich soils are among the finest Pinot Noir sites in Champagne. The domaine’s holdings extend across Ambonnay, Verzenay, and Bouzy for Grand Cru fruit, with Premier Cru Pinot Meunier in Vrigny.

The crown jewel is Les Crayères, an old-vine Pinot Noir site that delivers depth, mineral structure, and ageworthiness. These vineyards are farmed with dramatically low yields and without chemical fertilizers or herbicides. Ploughing and careful vineyard work maintain soil health and vine balance.

Harvesting occurs later than is typical in Champagne, a deliberate choice that prioritizes phenolic ripeness over sheer acidity. This approach gives the wines their signature vinous weight and texture.

Winemaking Philosphy

In the cellar, the Champagne favors restraint and time. Fermentations occur with indigenous yeasts in tank or French oak. The wines undergo three to four years of barrel aging before bottling, far longer than most Champagne producers.

Malolactic fermentation is avoided. Instead, freshness is preserved through extended lees aging, sometimes lasting close to a decade. Oak is used for structure and oxygen management, not flavor. The result is richness without heaviness and power without oxidation.

This places Egly-Ouriet stylistically apart from Selosse. Where Selosse leans fully into oxidative expression, Egly-Ouriet balances depth with clarity. Many critics describe the wines as having a Krug-like structure with greater transparency of site.

Featured Wines

Grand Cru Brut (MV)

Built primarily on Pinot Noir, the Grand Cru Brut is Egly-Ouriet’s most important reference wine. It delivers chalk-driven structure, dark fruit, and a distinctly vinous profile. Long lees aging and minimal dosage give the wine authority and balance. It is one of the most serious non-vintage Champagnes produced today.

Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Les Crayères

This wine defines the domaine. Sourced from old vines in Ambonnay, Les Crayères is dense, mineral, and profoundly ageworthy. It stands among the greatest Pinot Noir–based Champagnes in existence and regularly outperforms far more expensive prestige cuvées.

Grand Cru Millésime 2014, 2015, 2016

These vintage Champagnes are released only after extended aging. Each reflects its year, but all share depth, structure, and longevity. The 2014 emphasizes tension, 2015 offers breadth, and 2016 combines power with precision. All are built to evolve for decades.

Coteaux Champenois Ambonnay Rouge

Produced in tiny quantities, this still Pinot Noir is the most coveted Coteaux Champenois wine in Champagne. Silky, mineral, and Burgundian in character, it reinforces the estate’s belief that great Champagne begins with great vineyards.

Acclaim and Legacy

Widely regarded as one of the most important grower Champagne producers in the world. Sommeliers use the wines as benchmarks for Pinot Noir–driven Champagne. Critics consistently praise their structure, depth, and aging potential.

What sets Egly-Ouriet apart is not hype, but repetition. Vintage after vintage, the wines deliver clarity, authority, and longevity. Production remains limited at roughly 100,000 bottles per year, making demand perpetually outstrip supply.

For collectors, Champagne lovers, and those who understand the region’s history, Egly-Ouriet represents something increasingly rare. It is proof that integrity, patience, and vineyard-first thinking can still define greatness in Champagne.

Selosse may have redefined what grower Champagne could be, but their bottles have become nearly impossible to find stateside. Egly‑Ouriet—cut from the same revolutionary cloth—remains one of the last truly attainable icons of the movement: fiercely allocated, profoundly terroir‑driven, and still within reach for those who move quickly. Francis Egly, a meticulous perfectionist and one of the true pioneers of the grower‑Champagne movement, has spent decades crafting wines that stand shoulder‑to‑shoulder with the region’s greatest.

Shop The Egly-Ouriet Wine Collection Here