Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru V.P NV Base 10. Disg. Jul 2018

V.P stands for vieillissement prolongé: the house's grand cru blend held around seven years on its lees, against roughly four for the standard bottling.

Egly-Ouriet is based at Ambonnay on the southern flank of the Montagne de Reims, where Francis Egly took over from his father at the start of the 1980s and now works with his daughter Clémence. The estate farms about twenty hectares across Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzenay and Bisseuil, organically and with regular ploughing, on very low yields and with late picking so the Pinot Noir ripens fully; only the cuvée, the first pressing, is used. V.P is led by Pinot Noir with Chardonnay making up the balance, part of the base fermented in barrel with indigenous yeasts and a small proportion of new oak, and the wine is not filtered. What separates it from the standard Grand Cru is simply time on lees, which is what gives it its depth and more developed character. Dosage is around three grams. This release is a 2010 base disgorged in July 2018.

Drinking well now and worth cellaring further; serve at about 8°C with roast poultry, mushroom dishes or aged comté.