Wine Advisor
Egly Ouriet, Brut Millesime Grand Cru 2004
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
Golden in color, the 2004 Brut Millésime Grand Cru offers an intense and precise aroma of slightly toasted whole-grain bread, brownish apples, apple strudel, oranges, dried fruits, raisins, brioche, and hints of mocha and nougat. This full-bodied yet lovely, really pure and dry wine is very elegant, quite expressive on the palate, and finishes with a refreshing lime aroma and citric acidity. This is a classic for fans of complex Champagnes of great purity and finesse. The wine is very well structured and quite firm in the finish and aftertaste, and can be stored for 4-5 years. The wine was sourced from old vines in grands cru vineyards of Ambonnay and bottled for the second fermentation without filtration. It was then kept on the lees for 100 months and disgorged in November 2013.
About the Producer
Francis Egly sets the standard for wine-growers throughout the Champagne region, with his stringent work ethic, levels of stock that allow long fermentation on lees, and precise labeling that states the date of dis-gorgement and the duration of that fer-mentation on lees. The warm soils of Ambonnay bring the pinot noir to peak ripeness, maintaining a consistent level of quality in his grapes for the past ten years. Egly's two most outstanding cuvees are, first, the incredible, uniquely opulent non-vintage Blanc de Noirs: and the Coteaux Champenois, a wine made in pitifully small quantities but arguably the very best avail-able in Champagne today. But even at entry level, the deliciously subtle, 100 per cent pinot Meunier Les Vignes de Vrigny puts on exemplary performance. This is, in short, the most complete, homogeneous range of wines ever from this exceptional producer, who now boasts ultramodern facilities that should allow him to raise the bar even higher.
