Egly Ouriet Blanc de Noirs VV Les Crayeres NV (Base 16, Disg. July 2023)

Base 16, Disg. July 2023.

Vintages: 2016 (50%), 2015 (50%)

Bottling: 2017

Time on lees: 72 months

In 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 Cray?res. 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?, cray?res references chalk quarries which likely once existed here). Les Cray?res 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. Importer's notes.

"A blend of the 2016 and 2015 vintages, the NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Cray?res 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.