Egly Ouriet 2023

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) WILLIAM KELLEY, the wine advocate

Reflecting what is planted in the vineyards, Les Prémices is an equal blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. The vines are, on average, 40 years old and are rooted in clay, sand and sandstone over chalk bedrock—a soil typical of the Massif de Sainte-Thierry. As always, the classic Egly manifesto applies here—old vines, low yields, hand harvesting of fully ripe fruit, no inoculation, long lees aging, no fining or filtration and low dosage, etc. One difference here is that the wine was fermented and aged exclusively in tank. While the first release was drawn from a single vintage (2016), this release is a 2017 base with 60% reserve wine from the intense, low-yielding 2016—so you can expect something more complex and layered from this release. The wine spent 36 months on lees and was disgorged with two grams per litre.