The unsung wine in the Egly-Ouriet stable - Vignes de Vrigny

I know a huge number of our clients concur with my view that I have never had anything other than an excellent bottle of champagne from Egly-Ouriet. I would be hard pressed to come up with another producer in Champagne in whom I have the same faith.

We have discussed what makes these wines so consistently great on innumerable occasions but here is a brief summary, nonetheless!

•    Egly’s wines, from his superb NV Tradition to the most heralded wines in his range, draw on fruit from old vines in the Grand Cru villages of Ambonnay, Bouzy and Verzenay. Vignes de Vrigny, like the relatively recently introduced ‘Les Premices’ from Trigny is made from Premier Cru-classified fruit, in this case 100% Pinot Meunier.

•    All of Egly’s wines are aged well beyond the norm before release. Nothing is hurried at all chez Egly; each cuvée benefits, in terms of complexity, from extended ageing of at least four years on their lees in bottle, way ahead of the statutory minimum for Champagne. The Vieillissement Prolongé (or V.P. for short) is the most extreme example spending 84 months on its lees.

•    All of Egly’s wines are low dosage (dosage relates to the amount of sugar in the liqueur d’expedition that is added after the disgorgement process. This adjusts the wine’s overall sweetness/dryness). In Egly’s wines, there is nothing to mar the sheer purity.

•    All of Egly’s wines are capable of developing in bottle, growing in complexity – that comment applies to the NV Tradition as it does across the range.

•    And finally, these wines are produced in smaller quantities than most of the Champagnes with which you may be familiar; they are not seeking to further the aspirations of a brand, but rather to represent their origins. They are a far cry from some of the near-debased, commercial output of many famous names in Champagne. Making wines of such high and unerring quality requires not only considerable practical skill, but equally near maniacal focus. That’s exactly what you get with Egly-Ouriet.

The wine that perhaps gets overlooked the most is the Vignes de Vrigny – an exceptional wine from a Premier Cru classified vineyard which is made from 100% old vine Pinot Meunier – the least championed of the three major Champagne varieties. Pinot Meunier is red variety – considered a mutation of Pinot Noir. We first find it mentioned as far back in the 16th century and today it accounts for roughly a third of the Champagne vineyard mass. The reason for this success is in part due to the fact that it is a more reliable performer in terms of budding and ripening than Pinot Noir.

When I first entered the wine trade, I was told that Pinot Meunier brought an easy fruitiness to the Champagne blend, but in actual fact it can add to the richness of a blend – it isn’t all about easy, appealing fruit. While many houses and growers in Champagne have largely excluded Meunier from their wines, instead choosing to focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay exclusively, others have decided to afford some attention to this variety and have elected to make a pure varietal Meunier, such as Francis Egly’s Vignes de Vrigny and Jerome Prevost’s La Closerie – Les Beguines. Old vines are certainly the key to the wine I am offering here – the parcel that the Egly family have in Vrigny is distinctive. If you are curious, you should really take a look at this most overlooked wine in the Egly stable – you won’t be disappointed.

NV Egly-Ouriet, Vignes de Vrigny, 1er Cru
£290 per 6 botlte case in bond
Aged in bottle since 2020.
Blend : 100% Pinot Meunier from old vines
Base wines : 50% from the 2019, 30% from the 2018 and 20% from the 2017 vintage

92 points, William Kelley, robertparker.com
Based on the 2019 vintage and disgorged this year with three grams per liter dosage, the NV Brut Premier Cru Les Vignes de Vrigny wafts from the glass with aromas of green apple, white flowers, freshly baked bread and crushed mint. Medium to full-bodied, pure and fleshy, it's vinous and precise, with racy acids and a sapid finish. Drink : 2023-2033.

Please let us know of your interest.