Egly-Ouriet Brut Les Prémices NV (Disgorgement: July 2023)
$187.90
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Region: Champagne Grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier First Glance: Pure, Mineral, Complex, Long
The Wine: Les Prémices hails from 3.5 hectares of vines in Trigny, northwest of Reims. The Egly vines span seven historic lieux-dits in the commune. Like the domaine’s Vrigny vines, these plots have come from Annick Egly’s (wife of Francis) side of the family.
Les Prémices is an equal blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. The vines are, on average, 40 years old and are rooted in clay and sandstone over a chalk bedrock. As always, the classic Egly manifesto applies here—old vines, low yields, hand harvesting of fully ripe fruit, no inoculation, long lees aging, no fining or filtration, low dosage and meticulous attention to detail. One difference here is that the wine is fermented and aged exclusively in tank.
The current release is the first blend to include three vintages, and the wine is even better for it. The dosage for this release was just one gram per litre. We were very impressed with the last release, but this is significantly next level. It’s a super mineral, pure-fruited wine with more depth and complexity than the previous release, yet with the same incredible precision and a long, perfumed, salty close. It's very hard to drink slowly!
