Description
Egly-Ouriet, Grand Cru Millésime
Remember when Egly-Ouriet released their 2008 Grand Cru Millésime early last year? It received a perfect score, shattered the airwaves, and sold out here, there, and everywhere almost instantly. But before that happened, I predicted a couple of things—that its stock would continue soaring and, in due time, it’d become a unicorn wine.
Today, those suppositions are becoming truths right in front of our eyes. The wine is virtually untraceable in America, and if you try obtaining it overseas, the new price is high enough to make your jaw permanently slam to the ground. And while that 2008 remains among the finest Champagnes of contemporary times, here comes the superb 2012 vintage hot on its heels. Does it stand up to the perfection of its predecessor? I’ll let Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate answer that: “Make no mistake, this is one of the wines of the vintage, but like the 2008, it will demand patience. With more age on cork, I wouldn’t be surprised if it began to close in on a three-digit score.” NOTE: Severely limited quantities are available—half of what we had for the 2008s—so purchases must be capped at two bottles per person. Good luck!
Fourth-generation vigneron Francis Egly isn’t “arguably” or “one of” the best grower-producers in Champagne; he’s in everyone’s top two or three, end of story. He organically farms to a fanatical degree, harvests at absolute perfect levels of ripeness, barrel vinifies, and ages for a flat-out ridiculous amount of time. Egly stands apart from the competition and with each passing year there is renewed acclaim, higher prices, and tighter allocations. All of it is entirely justifiable: Egly-Ouriet consistently releases some of the greatest wines in the world.
When Francis 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 (an encourager of the grower movement in the ’80s, and the main reason Francis started bottling his famous “Les Crayères” bottling) 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 how Francis Egly answered 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, which is typically done after everyone else in Ambonnay has already finished. 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.
Egly’s Grand Cru Millésimes come from estate-owned Grand Cru Ambonnay fruit that was planted in the 1970s. Vines are farmed organically and Francis has a plowing regimen that aerates the chalky-clay soils here. His multi-level concrete cellars allow the grapes to be fed into French barrels via gravity and thanks to their cold, temperature-controlled cellars, malolactic is blocked. After fermenting on indigenous yeasts and resting further in barrel, today’s 2012 was transferred into bottle where it evolved for 96 months. The final blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay saw no fining or filtration; was disgorged in July of 2021; and was dosed with one gram of sugar.
Treat this special wine like you would a Grand Cru Burgundy by serving in large stems around 55 degrees, allowing it to open up, and making sure you stretch your bottle out over several hours with your closest friends. Set the others aside for further evolution over the next 10-15 years. Cheers.
