I’m a huge Egly fan - I think they are one of the very best producers out there - so when I stumbled upon this new ”entry level” wine from them I wanted to try it right away. It’s 50€ a pop so not exactly cheap all things considered but then the Brut Tradition has gone up in price of late. I was let down somewhat as while big and concentrated this lacks the nuance and vibrancy Egly often remarkably achieves despite the considerable power of their wines. It’s not bad by any means but for my palate it is not up to the normal high Egly standard.
NV Egly-Ouriet Champagne Les Prémices- France, Champagne (31.1.2021)
Rich and expressive on the nose with ripe notes of cherry and apple, apricot, oak and some smoke. Definitely smells of ripe Pinot more than anything. The mousse is pretty big and persistent, if coarse to some degree. Beyond the mousse it is pretty vinous and substantial. It seems quite dry (2 g/l dosage) but then the richness does a decent job of balancing things out. The acidity is very strong, in fact so strong that the wine does not feel perfectly harmonious. What I usually love about this producer’s wines is that they are very refined despite being powerful and concentrated. This on the other hand is angular and awkward. As it is right now I don’t find it a very good purchase at all and despite the slightly lower price here you would be better off buying any other wine of the range.
Day 2: Still somewhat aggressive and disjointed so I decided to try it from a large Burgundy bowl and take my time with it. This worked very well - the fizz obviously weakens but the vinous nature of the wine shows best this way. Very much a wine more than anything with something Selosse-esque about how it’s built up. Just super savory and broad with high intensity and pretty great length. Still not something I would rebuy though as in the end it is a tad heavy and clumsy.
Ilkka,
Thanks for the tasting note. That must be their entry level wine. It sounds like maybe it could use more time in the bottle. I’ve loved every Egly-Ouriet I’ve tried, but I’ve never seen this bottling.
Cheers,
Warren
It’s their very recently released new entry level bottling indeed. It could be that it needs more age, sure. In contrast to the rest of the portfolio it has no échelle des crus classification (I believe the others are all Grand Cru besides Les Vignes de Vrigny which is Premier Cru).
As it would be I recently had this as well. Looking at their description and the price point I kinda felt like this would be their version of what Bereche’s Brut Reserve is. Maybe that isn’t fair to Egly, but this is at a higher price point than Bereche and isn’t as good as Bereche (though I still think it’s very good)
I actually saw your note on CT - I suppose you were a bit more upbeat than me about it. I don’t have a problem with the comparison you make and I definitely agree on the QPR comment. Where Bereche certainly ranks higher is in good ol’ drinking fun, I don’t see this one evaporating as quickly.
Thanks for the honesty on this one IkkaL. Around here prices for this new cuvee and the Grand Cru ‘Tradition’ are pretty much the same, which I found weird, if this is supposed to be a new entry-level.
