Champagne Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Millésime 2016 (Disg. Jul 25)

This is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from 40-year-old vines in Ambonnay. The Egly family select the grapes for this wine at harvest and raise the wine completely in barrel. There was only 1 g/L dosage. It is a seductive, layered, powerful expression of Ambonnay, and, as with the Blanc de Noirs, it undoubtedly represents one of Champagne’s greatest wines.

Crafted from low yields, it’s a breathtaking release (“Montrachet with bubbles” is how Francis Egly described it to us). This stands up to Egly’s finest years. Yes, it is now up there in price, but we also need to consider not only the otherworldly quality but the length of time these wines are being held in the cellar. This wine is an essay in perfection, and when compared to the prices of wines like Clos d’Ambonnay or many a Grand Cru Burgundy released two years after the harvest, the price starts to take on more context.