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

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes is a grand cru Blanc de Noirs from a single Ambonnay parcel planted in 1946.

Ambonnay is one of the Montagne de Reims grand crus and the home village of the Egly family. Les Crayères sits mid-slope with a full southern aspect, a short walk from the cellars; barely 30 centimetres of soil covers chalk that runs hundreds of metres down, which is what the name records — craie is French for chalk, and crayères were the quarries once worked here. The vines date from 1946 and are among the oldest in Champagne, deeply rooted and naturally low-yielding, which is where the wine's concentration comes from. Michel Bettane encouraged Francis Egly to bottle the site on its own, and the first release was based on the 1989 harvest. This bottling blends the 2017 base, which spent close to a year in cask, with 50 per cent reserve wine from 2016; both were vinified and aged in barrel. Bottled in 2018, it spent 72 months on lees and was disgorged in July 2024.

Powerful enough to serve as a table wine and with a decade or more ahead of it, it suits roast poultry, aged Comté or grilled scallops. Serve at around 8°C, in a white-wine glass.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.