Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes NV Base 18, Disg. Jul 25

Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes is made from Pinot Noir planted in 1946 in a single mid-slope site at Ambonnay.

Les Crayères lies a short walk from the Egly cellars, facing full south on the Grand Cru slope of Ambonnay, with barely thirty centimetres of soil above chalk that runs hundreds of metres down; craie is French for chalk and crayères refers to the chalk quarries once worked here. The vines were planted in 1946, an age that is now extremely rare in Champagne, and their deep roots contribute the mineral line that runs through the wine's powerful Pinot fruit. The bottling was encouraged by the critic Michel Bettane, with the first release based on the 1989 harvest. This one was bottled after the 2018 base spent close to a year in cask, blended with 50 per cent reserve wine from 2017; both components were vinified and aged in barrel.

Deeply concentrated and best given a decanter or a few years in bottle, it suits roast duck, mushrooms and mature cheese. Serve at about 8°C.

*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.