egly ouriet vv grand cru 2013

it was after the second world war that the house of egly was born when francis egly's grandfather started making wine with 3 hectares of vines in the ambonnay grand cru. by purchase, his descendants michel and then francis by marriage with mrs. ouriet will acquire 9 other hectares, including the magnificent parcel of crayères where the vines are more than sixty years old. in total, the vineyard whose average age of the vines is 40 years covers about ten hectares on the grands crus ambonnay, bouzy and verzenay with 2 thirds of pinot noir and the rest shared between pinot meunier and chardonnay. the soils are clay-limestone, as in all the remarkable grands crus in france and are exposed south-southeast. everything is in reasoned culture. depending on the characteristics of the harvest and the wine, francis egly, the current owner, varies the proportion of 1 to 5 year old barrels since 1995 in which the wine is aged in varying proportions in order to let each terroir express itself rather than following an invariable recipe. there is no malolactic fermentation since 1999 in order to preserve the freshness of the wine and the disgorgement dates are mentioned on the back labels. unlike the champagne region, which sells its bottles younger and younger, francis egly, following in the footsteps of his father michel, has patiently built up a treasure trove that allows him to market his brut wines after four years of ageing, and his vintage wines after six years. the production is very low, around 100,000 bottles depending on the year. egly ouriet 2013 has complex aromas of flowers and yellow and white-fleshed fruit like peach and pear combined with vanilla, over hints of honey and green tea. on the palate, it develops without hesitation, showing a full-bodied structure and great freshness. great chalky finish with a slight black pepper hint. a harmonious wine with great energy.