Francis Egly, head at the house of Egly-Ouriet, is preceded by his reputation as a Champagne maniac, in the most positive sense of the word. When it comes to quality and terroir, no effort is spared in order to emphasise precisely these aspects in his Champagne, produced in minute quantities.
In the mid-1940s, the family began producing Champagne with just 3 hectares, and they have grown to just 9.7 hectares today. As a charming contrast to the large and dominant Champagne houses, this boutique winery embodies that type of vintner Champagne, which in recent years has rightly attracted great attention, and enjoys the highest esteem among Champagne lovers.
At the center of Francis Egly's work are his Grand Cru sites in the Montagne de Reims, including a small parcel in Verzenay, which he deliberately vinifies separately in order to better express the terroir through the interplay of characteristics. He relies for the most part on Pinot Noir, with a little Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier rounding out the varietals.
Hardly anyone prescribes such a long lees ageing as is chosen for these Champagnes; nothing is disgorged for less than 36 months, and the base wines already have at least one year of barrel ageing behind them. These base wines come unfiltered to the 2nd fermentation in the bottle, so that the aromatic texture suffers no losses. And to make the Champagnes as precise and clear in expression as possible, they are prescribed an extremely low dosage, which hardly exceeds 3 grams.
This conscientious work in the vineyard and cellar, these exceptional qualities full of character, have given the Champagnes of Egly-Ouriet an outstanding reputation and led to such a great demand worldwide that the few bottles are never enough to make all Champagne lovers happy.
