Champagne, Brut Prémices, Egly-Ouriet

The Egly-Ouriet estate was created after the Second World War, when Francis Egly's grandfather started making wine with 3 hectares of vines in the Ambonnay Grand Cru. His descendants acquired, by purchase or marriage, 9 other hectares, including the magnificent plot and vineyard of Les Crayères. In total, the vineyard covers 10 hectares in the Ambonnay, Bouzy and Verzenay Grand Crus and 2 in the Vrigny Premier Cru. The Egly family practises traditional cultivation with regular ploughing to maintain the soil. They do not use insecticides as the whole property is under sexual confusion. Maximum care is taken with the vines, in particular with the trellising and thinning, in order to optimise the maturity of the grapes. The vinification process involves the use of stainless steel as well as non-new wood in varying proportions depending on the cuvée. All the vintages spend a minimum of 3 years in the cellar before being sold, which increases the complexity of the wines thanks to the autolysis of the yeasts, ensures a better ageing potential and also allows a better understanding of the terroirs (the expression becomes stronger with time). The wines thus gain in purity and complexity. Today, with his friend Anselme Selosse, he is perhaps the only producer who can claim the title of cult winemaker. The two partners are probably even at the origin of what Jacky Rigaux calls the...