Egly-Ouriet
Grower Champagne of the highest quality – natural wines with complex aromas
Region: Ambonnay Grand Cru
Annual Production: approx. 100,000 bottles
Size: 12 Hectares
Grapes: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier
Francis Egly's Champagnes impress with the exceptional quality of their base wines. They are powerful, terroir-expressive sparkling wines, primarily based on Pinot Noir. Although the domain is now among the most renowned grower Champagnes, it hasn't been in business for that long. Before Francis Egly took the helm in 1982, most of the grapes were sold to merchants or other houses.
Of the 12 hectares of cultivated land, 8 are in Ambonnay, with the remainder in Bouzy, Verzenay, and Vrigny. The 2 hectares in Vrigny are planted with Meunier, while the rest is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. The age of the vines dates back to 1947.
Francis Egly spends most of his time working in the vineyard and advocates for very ripe grape material. In the cellar, he primarily uses used oak barrels (for a maturation period of up to 8 months), which he sources from Burgundy. Egly is convinced that the wood gives the Champagne more structure, complexity, terroir expression, and aging potential. He also loves to mature individual parcels separately. Only natural yeasts are used, fining or filtration is not performed, and depending on the nature of the base wine, the wines may or may not undergo malolactic fermentation.
After "bottling," Egly-Ouriet's Champagnes spend a long time on the lees: Brut Tradition and Vignes de Vrigny for at least 3 years, and the other cuvées significantly longer. Egly recently introduced temperature control in all his cellars, which, in his view, reduces the amount of sulfur that needs to be added!