Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Les Crayères NV base 14, disg Jul 2021

Les Crayères is Egly-Ouriet's blanc de noirs, made entirely from old Pinot Noir vines in a single Grand Cru parcel at Ambonnay.

Ambonnay lies on the south-facing flank of the Montagne de Reims and is one of the Grand Cru villages where Pinot Noir ripens most reliably in Champagne. Les Crayères is a lieu-dit within it, and the name refers to the chalk workings that shaped the ground here, with chalk close beneath a thin topsoil. Egly-Ouriet has farmed in the village for four generations and has been run since 1982 by Francis Egly, who holds yields low across roughly forty-year-old vines and picks only when the fruit is fully mature. Farming is organic in practice, the harvest is by hand, fermentation runs on indigenous yeasts partly in French oak and partly in tank, and the cellar is kept cold to limit oxygenation. This cuvée is given at least three years on lees, well beyond the appellation minimum, and dosage seldom exceeds a few grams. Base year and disgorgement date stand in place of a vintage: this is the 2014 base, disgorged in July 2021.

Ready now and will hold and broaden for another five to ten years. Serve at about 8°C with roast duck, mushroom tart or a plate of charcuterie.