Egly-Ouriet Brut Les Premices (Disg 2023)

Based on the 2018 vintage and disgorged with only one gram per liter dosage, Egly’s NV Brut Les Prémices delivers aromas of sweet orchard fruit, peach, baking spices and fresh bread. Medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, it’s a charming, enveloping wine with a sweet core of fruit and a bright, saline finish. 90 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

2019 (50%), 2018 (30%), 2017 (20%), Bottling: 2020, Disgorgement: July 2023, Time on lees: 36 months.

Les Prémices hails from 3.5 hectares of vines in Trigny, northwest of Reims. To use some great growers to geolocate; Trigny is situated just to the west of Saint-Thierry and Merfy (where Alexandre Chartogne is based), and east of Montigny-sur-Vesle (where Aurélien Suenen grows his super La Grande Vigne cuvée). 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. The return of Francis and Annick’s two children, Charles and Clémence, to the domaine has enabled the family to begin producing their own wines from these plots (previously, the fruit was being sold). This is just the second release.

Reflecting what is planted in the vineyards, 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—a soil typical of the Massif de Saint-Thierry area. 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!

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