Champagne Egly-Ouriet 1er Cru Les Vignes de Vrigny NV Base 14 Disg. Dec 2018

This is the December 2018 disgorgement of Egly-Ouriet's all-Meunier premier cru from Vrigny, on the far side of the Montagne de Reims from the family's Ambonnay base.

Vrigny lies on the western slopes of the Montagne, in the sector where Meunier rather than Pinot Noir dominates the plantings, and the parcel came to Egly-Ouriet through Francis Egly's wife's side of the family; the vines are around forty years old. It is the only cuvée in the range not built on the estate's grand cru holdings, and the only one made entirely from Meunier, but nothing else changes. Egly farms around twenty hectares across Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzenay, Bisseuil and Vrigny, organically and with regular ploughing, cuts yields well below what the appellation allows, picks late and keeps only the first pressing. Part of the base ferments in barrel with indigenous yeasts, the wine is not filtered, and it spends roughly three years on lees before hand disgorgement at about two grams of dosage. This release is a 2014 base.

Good now and for several years; serve at about 8°C with charcuterie, roast pork or a mushroom tart.