Egly Ouriet Blanc De Noirs Les Crayeres VV Grand Cru NV (750ML)

99 JD / 99 DE / 98+ WA / 97 VM

Aged 72 months on lees, fermented in barrel with full malo, the NV Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Brut Les Crayères Vieilles Vignes is just a heavenly bottle, offering a kaleidoscope-like nose of buttered citrus, orange blossom, flowers, green almonds, and salty minerality. These flow to a full-bodied, rich, deep, and incredibly layered palate Champagne that flirts with perfection. It’s stunning today yet it should easily evolve for another 20 years. Jeb Dunnuck

Some in Champagne can achieve grandeur of dizzying proportions, and the most talented can summon delicacy of lightfooted grace, but no village marries the two as effortlessly as Ambonnay, and no practitioner as masterfully as Francis Egly. Vieilles Vignes is his masterpiece, succeeding in capturing the golden sunlight grandeur and chalk mineral airiness of his tiny amphitheatre shaped lieu-dit of vines planted in 1946. The essence of Pinot Noir. Tyson Stelzer - Decanter.com

The latest release of Egly-Ouriet's emblematic NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Crayères was disgorged in July 2019 with three grams per liter dosage after 72 months on the lees. It's based on the 2012 vintage complemented by 40% reserve wines from 2011. The wine is showing brilliantly, unfurling in the glass with scents of crisp yellow and green orchard fruit, honeycomb and praline; it's full-bodied, deep and searingly incisive, with tighter-knit, more tensile core than last the 2018 disgorgement (a 2011-2010 blend). Concentrated and impeccably balanced, with a delicate pinpoint mousse and a long, chalky finish, this is another magical Champagne from this beacon of artisanal winemaking. While the 2018 disgorgement was amazingly inviting on release, this new release will really reward at least a few years' patience. William Kelley - The Wine Advocate

The NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru is a blend taken from old vines in the Crayères lieu-dit in Ambonnay. A wine of real depth and vertical intensity, the Blanc de Noirs is a stand out today. Chalk, white pepper, mint and sage add aromatic brightness to a core of rich Pinot fruit in this decidedly cool, austere, Champagne. Egly's Brut Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru remains one of the most distinctive wines in all of Champagne. Extended time on the lees (76 months) yields a wine of real pedigree. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media