Champagne Egly-Ouriet: Finest of the Fine Cult Growers

Egly-Ouriet (Egg-lee Ou-ree-yair) is to Champagne-lovers what a Steinway is to pianists, or a Phillipe Dufour is to watch collectors. That is to say, for those in the know, the mere mention can make the heart skip a beat and eyebrows nudge upward.

Rather than relying on heavy marketing or drama, they’re all about boutique excellence – maintaining extraordinary quality yet somehow retaining a sense of what one could only describe as ‘intimacy’. You won’t find Egly-Ouriet umbrellas outside eateries, nor will you find pyramids of it on a shop floor. Hell, they don’t even have a website. No, you’ll find an Egly, perhaps just one, or two if you’re lucky, quietly on the shelf. “Is that bottle glowing?” you’ll think, “And are those angels singing?” No, to your average drinker the bottle isn’t glowing and a Top 100 playlist is on, but to you, the Champagne aficionado – the heavens may as well be opening.

“Cult” is the word often bestowed upon producers like Egly, for good reason. The products they release are rare, undeniably impressive and opinions are overwhelmingly positive with broad consensus, so without further ado, let us initiate you into the world of Egly-Ouriet…

Egly-Ouriet is a revered ‘Récoltants-Manipulant’ or grower champagne, meaning they make their champagnes from vineyards they own themselves. They’re situated in Ambonnay where they own 8 hectares, with another 4 hectares scattered across Bouzy, Verzenay and Vrigny in the Montagne de Reims.

They grow all three champagne varieties and, with the exception of Vrigny, the other vineyards are all Grand Cru status. The vineyards are all on south or south-east facing slopes which helps them achieve good annual ripeness – an incredibly important detail for custodian, Francis Egly, “From vines averaging more than 45 years of age, Egly harvests at full maturity, typically at 12 or 13 degrees of potential alcohol, extremely ripe for Champagne, and never chaptalises. His goal is to harvest grapes as ripe as possible, and he cites the best vintages as those of high maturity, naming under-maturity as Champagne’s biggest problem.” Tyson Stelzer explains in his 2018/19 edition of The Champagne Guide.

Although not wanting to be labelled as an organic or biodynamic producer, Francis follows very natural practices and is determined the wines are clean and pure, reflecting the terroir of the Montagne de Reims whilst protecting the precious environment around them.

As important as the vines are the hands that tend them, and attached to these digits of distinction is Francis Egly, the fourth generation working these vineyards. Each generation has followed the trend of vinifying more of their own grapes with each changeover, recognizing the quality of their holdings and increasing their investment over time.

Champagne writer, Yuri Champaniaque, calls him ‘mysterious,’ before congratulating the ‘Wine Challenge’ podcast for conducting perhaps one of the more in-depth interviews with Francis Egly around. “The estate has earned some reputation, so in a way, I would say that these days making mistakes is not an option…” Francis explains to them, and that he knows that people expect a certain calibre from the Egly-Ouriet estate and endeavours to provide that.

On the matter of the future of the estate, he explains to Alex, the interviewer, that there’s hope for a fifth generation but he doesn’t like to push them, “My children have come back to work with me, I’m particularly careful not to put pressure on them, because that wouldn’t be helping them… I have two children, a son who is 24 and a 26 year old daughter. Both of them have now helped me on the estate and I’m really proud of it. It’s a success to have them coming back, and I think they’re going to find their place here. It’s quite easy because my son likes to work the land, so he’s keen on working in the vines and Clémence [his daughter] likes the vineyards too, of course, and she too participates in all the work in the vines, but she’s also more involved in the commercial side of our activities and that suits her perfectly. So we’ve actually reached an easy balance.”

Egly Ouriet’s champagnes are well-known for their bold but beautiful style.

All cuvees sit for a minimum of 36 months (as opposed to legal minimum of 18) before disgorgement. This contributes to the rich complexity of the Egly-Ouriet champagnes. The Grand Cru VP or ‘Viellisement Prolongee’ (prolonged aging) sits in state for 70 months, giving it amazing powerful, intense flavours whilst still retaining wonderful elegance.

Every label of Egly-Ouriet’s Champagnes bears the house philosophy, “This champagne is the expression of a “family” style that comes first and foremost from perfectly tended vineyards. The quality of grapes, the precision of blending and long elevage in the cellar allows us to offer you non-filtered champagnes in the purest champagne style,” along with disgorgement dates, terroirs and the number of months on Iees.

We are thrilled and immensely privileged to be given a small allocation of these revered, rare and dazzlingly pure champagnes, expected to land in May;

Don’t just take our word for it! Egly-Ouriet has impressed the most discerning palates in the world;

Egly Ouriet has been awarded 3 stars, the highest rating, in Le Classement by La Revue du Vin de France. Le Classement is a ranking of the 1300 best domaines in France and only 56 domaines in France have 3 star status. Only 5 champagne houses have 3 star status including Egly Ouriet together with Krug, Salon, Jacquesson and Selosse.

If there is one Grower Producer you should try, it’s Egly-Ouriet. Not only does it reflect the terroir, but the time, love and thought put into it by its producer Francis Egly.