Log in for prices and ordering

Champagne Egly-Ouriet

The Best of the Best: Grower Champagne of Riveting Purity and Intensity

Francis Egly is growing wines that offer remarkable intensity as well as transparency of site from vines that are positively ancient by Champagne standards. Like all great French growers, the Egly philosophy can be defined by one word: terroir. Very low yields, old vines, exceptional sites, perfectly ripe fruit, extended lees aging (the Brut NV can spend up to 48 months on lees), very low or no dosage and no fining or filtration: these are all decisions Egly takes because he believes they allow his terroir to speak most clearly. These practices are identical to the finest growers in Burgundy and the polar opposite of conventional Champagne production. As leading French critic Michel Bettane observes, the “larger houses cannot hope to emulate the cultivation norms” here. The resulting wines are among France's purest, terroir-driven, unmanipulated wines. To quote Andrew Jefford in The New France, they are “wines of riveting concentration and purity”.

Egly-Ouriet only produces wines from its own vines. There are close to 10 hectares of Grand Cru vineyards, mostly in Ambonnay but also in Verzenay and Bouzy. Then, there are two hectares of Pinot Meunier in the 1er Cru village of Vrigny that gives the coveted 100% Pinot Meunier Les Vignes de Vrigny. And now, there are also estate vines in the villages of Trigny (in the Massif de Saint-Thierry area just north of Reims) and Bisseuil (near Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Aÿ, south of Ambonnay).

“These are among the purest, unmanipulated Champagnes readers will come across.” Antonio Galloni, The Wine Advocate

Francis Egly took over from his father, Michel, in 1982, after which he immediately converted the domaine to 100% estate bottling. In turn, this fastidious fourth-generation vigneron has recently been joined by his returning children, prompting the recent acquisition of new vineyards in preparation for the passing of the baton. The domaine has built a new cellar to store the extra volume generated from these sites. They have also recently installed refrigerated press pans to immediately cool the must at pressing and a peristaltic pump to handle the wines even more gently. It is not by accident that this growth in production coincides with the full-time return of the Egly children. Charles has now returned to work in the vineyards and was joined recently by his sister, Clémence, who completed her wine studies in Dijon. Some fresh vines and equipment for the next generation to sink their teeth into.

When you open and drink the wines of a great grower like Egly, as you would with any other great wine, you start to realise their incredible versatility. First of all, they go with a staggering array of dishes: any kind of bird, game, pork, veal, charcuterie, terrine, most seafood and some cheeses. You have to work pretty hard to find something that doesn’t work. And they have the added bonus of staying fresh—and even improving—for days after opening. As Peter Liem says: “If there are any Champagnes that fit the often-used description of ‘Burgundy with bubbles’, Egly-Ouriet’s would be the leading candidates.

Currently Available

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru NV (Base 19, Disg. July 24)

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru NV (Base 19, Disg. July 24)

Vintages: 2019 (50%), 2018 (30%), 2017 (20%)Bottling: 2020Disgorgement: July 2024Time on lees: 48 monthsThis is simply a stunning release of this wine. As always, it’s 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay exclusively from low-yielding Grand Cru vines, predominantly located in Ambonnay, but also Bouzy and Verzenay. The old cliché—Egly starts harvesting when everyone else has finished—still holds true, and it’s obvious from the first sip that this wine is made from perfectly ripe fruit. The musts fermented with native yeasts, and the first period of maturation (before going to bottle) lasted almost one year, with the wine remaining on its fine lees the whole time. Over 50% of the wine fermented and matured in barrel. It's a wine of tremendous finesse, wonderfully bright and loaded with Pinot character—juicy red fruits and all kinds of spice—and a long, tonic close that’s chalky and saline. It’s a terrific food wine and will gain more and more depth over the next three to 12 months. It’s as good a release of this cuvée as we’ve tasted. So, grab what you can! As we’ve said many times, if Egly made only this wine, he would still be one of the region's superstars; it puts to shame many a prestige cuvée at considerably higher prices. The 2019 base was bottled with 2 g/L and disgorged in July 2024. 

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru NV (Base 19, Disg. July 24)
Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millésime 2014 (Disg Jul 23)

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millésime 2014 (Disg Jul 23)

Bottling: 2015Disgorgement: July 2023Time on lees: 96 monthsThis is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from 40-year-old vines in Ambonnay. The wine was aged completely in barrel and there was only one gram per litre dosage. It is a seductive, layered, powerful expression of Ambonnay and, as with the Blanc de Noirs, represents one of the very finest wines of Champagne. Far from falling in the shadow of his spectacular 2012 and 2013 releases, the 2014 is very much their equal. Francis Egly told us that he believes it’s one of the finest Millésime wines he has produced.  The summer was cool, and then from mid-August through early September, he had ideal ripening conditions and the family harvested exceptional fruit. The result is a strikingly beautiful wine with floral notes, great energy and tremendous finesse. In a word, breathtaking. Yes, it is now getting up there in price, but we also need to consider not only the otherworldly quality but also the length of time these wines are being held in the cellar. They are essays in perfection and when compared to the prices of wines like Clos d’Ambonnay or many a Grand Cru Burgundy released two years after harvest, the price starts to look quite different.

"One of the very finest wines produced in this less heralded vintage is Egly's 2014 Brut Grand Cru Millésime, a strikingly vinous and enveloping Champagne that wafts from the glass with aromas of pear, mirabelle plum, freshly baked bread, almond paste and honeycomb. Full-bodied, satiny and layered, its textural attack segues into a deep, concentrated mid-palate of exceptional purity and cut, concluding with a long, penetrating and mouthwateringly saline finish. As ever, it's a blend of some 70% Pinot Noir with 30% Chardonnay from Ambonnay's greatest terroirs."
97 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
“Strong stonefruits. Strong yeast or indeed Vegemite characters. Hints of honey and brine. Seaweed. Power, texture and length. Compelling. Strawberry jam in the aftertaste. Lemongrass or certainly a herbal element. Monumental. The personality is strong. The texture is strong. It’s thick and wiry at once, dry and juicy at once, overt and intricate at once.”
97 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millésime 2014 (Disg Jul 23)
Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Les Crayères NV (Base 16, Disg Jul 23)

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Les Crayères NV (Base 16, Disg Jul 23)

Vintages: 2016 (50%), 2015 (50%)Bottling: 2017Disgorgement: July 2023Time on lees: 72 monthsIn some ways, this is the emblematic wine of the domaine. It was Michel Bettane, the influential French critic, who encouraged Francis Egly to bottle this single vineyard wine separately, with the first release being from the 1989 vintage. This latest offering was bottled after the 2016 base had spent close to one year in cask before being blended with 50% reserve wines from the 2015 vintage. All the vinification and aging for both vintages was in barrel. The fruit comes from old Pinot Noir vines in a single terroir known as Les Crayères. The vines here were planted in 1946, so are now 75 years old (vines of this age are extremely rare in Champagne). Here the soil is barely 30cm deep, then it’s chalk, hundreds of metres down—hence the name of the site (craie is French for ‘chalk’, crayères references chalk quarries which likely once existed here). Les Crayères is situated mid-slope with a full south-facing exposure, not far from the estate’s cellars. The old vines are deeply rooted, giving the wine a classic, mineral energy that weaves its way through the powerful, layered Pinot Noir fruit. The deep concentration is a product of the ripeness and low yields that both the site and its ancient vines naturally deliver. The 2016 base is both a tribute to the greatest sites of Ambonnay and to the Egly-Ouriet domaine. Houses that emphasise blending may consider a 100% old-vine Ambonnay like this to be too intense; Egly gives it to you full throttle! This release is a wine of profound depth yet also great finesse. It’s still early days for the nose (if you open it now, give it time) while the palate is already stunning; a chiselled, mineral mouth bomb. The dosage is only two grams per litre and it’s invisible. An expression of a singular terroir, this is, of course, a unique wine that is, as always, built for food and for aging.

"A blend of the 2016 and 2015 vintages, the NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Crayères is an especially good rendition of this almost routinely sublime bottling. Unwinding in the glass with notes of pear, wild berries, clear honey, white flowers, praline and freshly baked bread, it's medium to full-bodied, beautifully layered and textural, with a taut, concentrated core, racy acids and a long, mineral finish. This chiseled, intensely flavored Champagne was disgorged this year with only one gram per liter dosage."
98+ points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Les Crayères NV (Base 16, Disg Jul 23)
Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millésime 2015 (Disg. July 24)

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millésime 2015 (Disg. July 24)

Bottling: 2016Disgorgement: July 2024Time on lees: 96 monthsThis is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from 40-year-old vines in Ambonnay. The Egly family select the grapes for this wine at harvest and raise the wine completely in barrel. There was only 1 g/L dosage. It is a seductive, layered, powerful expression of Ambonnay, and, as with the Blanc de Noirs, it undoubtedly represents one of Champagne’s greatest wines. 2015 was a wonderful year for Egly-Ouriet, and the result is a strikingly beautiful wine with floral notes, great energy and tremendous finesse. In a word, breathtaking. Yes, it is now getting up there in price, but we also need to consider not only the otherworldly quality but also the length of time these wines are being held in the cellar. This wine is an essay in perfection, and when compared to the prices of wines like Clos d’Ambonnay or many a Grand Cru Burgundy released two years after the harvest, the price starts to take on more context. 

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millésime 2015 (Disg. July 24)
Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes NV (Base 17, Disg. July 24)

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes NV (Base 17, Disg. July 24)

Vintages: 2017 (50%), 2016 (50%)Bottling: 2018Disgorgement: July 2024Time on lees: 72 monthsIn some ways, this is the emblematic wine of the domaine. It was Michel Bettane, the influential French critic, who encouraged Francis Egly to bottle this single-vineyard wine separately, with the first release based on the 1989 harvest. This latest offering was bottled after the 2017 base had spent close to one year in cask before blending with 50% reserve wines from the 2016 vintage. The vinification and aging for both vintages took place in barrel. The fruit comes from old Pinot Noir vines in a single terroir known as Les Crayères. The vines here were planted in 1946, so they are now 75 years old (vines of this age are extremely rare in Champagne). The soil is barely 30cm deep, then it’s chalk, hundreds of metres down—hence the name of the site (craie is French for ‘chalk’; crayères references chalk quarries which likely once existed here). Les Crayères is situated mid-slope with a full south-facing exposure, not far from the estate’s cellars. The old vines are deeply rooted, giving the wine a classic mineral energy that weaves its way through the powerful, layered Pinot Noir fruit. The deep concentration is a product of the ripeness and low yields that the site and its ancient vines confer. The 2017 base is a tribute to the greatest sites of Ambonnay and the Egly-Ouriet domaine. Houses that emphasise blending may consider a 100% old-vine Ambonnay like this to be too intense; Egly gives it to you full throttle! This release has both profound depth and incredible finesse. It’s still early days for the nose (if you open it now, give it time), while the palate is already stunning: a layered yet chiselled, mineral mouth bomb. The dosage is only 2 g/L, and it’s invisible. As always, this unique expression of a singular terroir is built for food and aging. Give it two to three years, and it will be even better.  

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes NV (Base 17, Disg. July 24)
Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru V.P NV (Base 16, Disg. July 24)

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru V.P NV (Base 16, Disg. July 24)

Vintages: 2016 (50%), 2015 (30%), 2014 (20%)Bottling:  2017Disgorgement: July 2024Time on lees: 84 monthsV.P. stands for Vieillissement Prolongé (prolonged aging), as this wine spends an extended period on lees—in the case of this release, 84 months. Like the Grand Cru Brut, this is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, and the fruit again comes from Ambonnay, Bouzy and Verzenay—all Grand Cru terroirs. Vinification and the first aging period are in oak casks, and dosage for both wines was only 1 g/L.Those who have tasted this cuvée in the past know the power of the fruit and extended lees aging grant so much harmony, length, complexity and texture. That’s precisely what you get: a vinous, powerful, super-pure Champagne. Intense and statuesque, yet with so much class. Already impressive, it’s still very young and deserves to be kept for a few more years before being opened. Being able to offer the 2013 (a great vintage, reviewed below) from magnum is a very special treat. 

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru V.P NV (Base 16, Disg. July 24)
Show All

AT-A-GLANCE

• Egly-Ouriet was founded in the late 18th century in Ambonnay and is regarded as a benchmark grower of Champagne.

• The estate is run by fourth-generation Francis Egly–considered one of the finest growers in France–with his daughter Clémence and son Charles.

• The 12 or so hectares of vines are primarily located in the Grand Cru villages of Ambonnay, Verzenay and Bouzy.

• There are small parcels in the 1er Cru village of Vrigny and more recent acquisitions in Massif de Saint-Thierry and Bisseuil.

• Farming incorporates biodynamic and organic principles, and yields are tightly controlled.

• Fermentations are natural, extractions are very gentle, dosage levels are low, and the wines spend extensive time on lees (minimum 48 months extending to 100+ months).

• The range focuses on Pinot Noir and Meunier and includes vintage, non-vintage, blends and straight varietal wines. There is also a rosé, a single Chardonnay-dominant cuvée and an excellent Ratafia.

• These high-demand wines are sold on allocation. Some are available in magnum and jeroboam.

IN THE PRESS

“Egly-Ouriet remains the finest grower in Champagne right now, and my only 10/10 grower.” Tyson Stelzer, The Champagne Guide 

“Francis Egly has been making wine at this renowned Ambonnay estate since 1982, and among grower producers today, he has a reputation in the region only second to Anselme Selosse.” Peter Liem, Champagne

“… far from resting on the considerable and merited laurels that he has accrued over a 30-year career, Francis Egly continues to refine and improve … No winemaker in Champagne is more precise or meticulous, from vineyard to cellar… and I continue to be amazed at the reasonable tariff such artisanal craftsmanship commands in a region where those qualities remain hard to come by.” William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Country

France

Primary Region

Champagne

People

Winemaker: Francis Egly

Availability

National

Most Recent Offer

  • Egly-Ouriet
    Egly-Ouriet
    It’s been a while since we could offer a parcel of wine from arguably Champagne’s great...
    It’s been a while since we could offer a parcel of wine from arguably Champagne’s greatest grower (read greatest producer!) to our entire database....

    Read more

While you're here