While SommSelect is all about variety, Egly-Ouriet is on our short list of producers that show up again and again. We’ve offered their entire range at one point or another, because with each release these wines show such perfect purity, depth, and expression it’s impossible to name one favorite—even their “entry-level” NV Brut surpasses many prestige cuvées from the big houses.
If you purchased their 2006 Grand Cru last January, odds are you’ve already added this ’07 to your cart. For newcomers, know this: Francis Egly of Egly-Ouriet isn’t “arguably” or “one of” the best grower-producers in Champagne; he is top-three (if not the top), plain and simple. Once you’ve experienced these inimitable barrel-aged sparklers, from conscientiously-farmed grapes of perfect ripeness, any cautions are thrown to the wind. It’s a truly voluptuous and terroir-defining wine that deserves to be placed among the greatest wines—and not just Champagnes—of the world. Though today’s new release will age decades without tiring, the 2007 is showing such enormous depth and instant pleasure it is bound to impress repeat buyers and stun neophytes. I should also note: With each passing year demand far exceeds production, so we must limit each customer to three bottles—but do know that as long as my future allocations hold up, the wines of Francis Egly will continue appearing on SommSelect. It would be a crime if they didn’t.
When fourth-generation vigneron Francis Egly took the reins from his father, Michel, back in 1980, organic farming was hardly fashionable in Champagne. Nevertheless, Egly and a few others—labeled as crazy by other Champenois—continued on with their vineyard-first approaches, which helped spawn a grower revolution. French wine writer Michel Bettane (who encouraged the grower movement in the ’80s and was the main reason Egly started bottling “Les Crayères,” the Blanc de Noirs that brought him to fame) has this to say about Egly Ouriet: “Few producers can equal Francis Egly in skill and experience, and larger houses cannot hope to emulate the cultivation norms.” It’s true, and despite the frenzied push for his wines, Francis refuses to sacrifice quality; his vineyard holdings still remain quite small and he has stayed true to his natural methodologies.
“Bouzy le nom, Ambonnay le renom” (“Bouzy has the name, Ambonnay the fame”) was Francis Egly’s answer to author Peter Liem’s question about the differences between the Grand Cru villages of Ambonnay and Bouzy. In Ambonnay, Pinot Noir reigns as king because of its ability to produce deep base wines with enough character to shine through in sparkling form. You really taste the Pinot Noir in Egly’s wines because he picks at extreme levels of ripeness—typically done after everyone else in Ambonnay has already finished their harvest. To Francis, picking ripe, or “late,” is the most important part of the process. He doesn’t consider himself a pioneer or a trendsetter; he just makes the finest quality wine he can—and that starts with perfectly mature, concentrated grapes.
The 2007 Grand Cru is all Ambonnay fruit from estate-owned vineyards planted in the 1970s. Vines are farmed organically and Francis has a plowing regimen that aerates the chalky-clay and sandstone soils here. His multi-level concrete cellars allow the grapes to be fed in via gravity and thanks to their cold, temperature controlled cellars, malolactic fermentation is blocked and primary fermentation relies on indigenous yeasts. The wine ages on its lees in 30% new French oak for a staggering 96 months; almost three times the requirement and the final blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay was dosed with 4 grams of sugar (it sounds low, but for Francis that’s on the higher side). As with all his wines, it was bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal amounts of sulfur. Additionally, Francis tries to be as transparent as possible by providing both the dosage and disgorgement date on the back label.
In the glass, the deep yellow core moves to deep gold with green tones glinting throughout. The bubbles are incredibly compact, and they trudge up through the concentrated liquid as if carrying the weight of the bottle on their backs. The soft and fine mousse points to its extended years in barrel and the nose further confirms this with baked red apple, ripe quince, red currant, preserved plum, yellow flowers, white mushroom, truffle, honey pie, gingerbread, crushed almonds, and hints of baking spice. Truly, its aromas are simply too numerous to list, while the palate is highly concentrated and the wine shows a nearly full body. This is luscious Champagne, with more roundness and richness than the ’06—who thought that could be possible? Drink it now surrounded by the most important people in your life or set it aside and watch it evolve over the next 20 years. Any time between now and then is fair game. I wouldn’t recommend a traditional Champagne stem for this—treat it like you would a red Burgundy and drink it in big Burgundy stems (or large open mouthed Champagne flutes if you have some) at around 55-60 degrees. It is without a doubt a ‘main course’ wine that will stand up to a range of proteins, so pick a recipe that will show it off in style. Cheers!
