A blend of the 2016 and 2015 vintages, the NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Crayères is an especially good rendition of this almost routinely sublime bottling. Unwinding in the glass with notes of pear, wild berries, clear honey, white flowers, praline and freshly baked bread, it's medium to full-bodied, beautifully layered and textural, with a taut, concentrated core, racy acids and a long, mineral finish. This chiseled, intensely flavored Champagne was disgorged this year with only one gram per liter dosage.

Year after year, Egly’s NV Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Crayères remains one of the most compelling and reliable wines from the Montagne de Reims. Sourced from a south-facing lieu-dit in Ambonnay that was planted between 1946 and 1947 on shallow chalk soils with just 30 centimeters of topsoil, it was disgorged in October 2024 with a dosage of one gram per liter. This release blends the richer 2017 vintage with the taut, incisive character of 2016. Notably, prior to 2000, Francis Egly produced this cuvée as a single-vintage expression, only later opting for a two-vintage blend to buffer against the variability of any given season. The wine ascends from the glass with a bouquet of remarkable complexity—aromas of acacia, ripe pear, orange zest, toasted nuts and patisserie elements unfurl. Full-bodied, concentrated and layered, with ample chalky structuring extract and mouthwatering acidity, it concludes with a long, saline finish. While I often vacillate between Les Crayères and the Millésime as to which I favor, this year, Les Crayères stands as the most captivating wine in the cellar. It offers immense youthful appeal yet promises to evolve beautifully with age. Readers would be wise not to hesitate—it fully lives up to its reputation, and I’d gladly secure bottles for my own cellar.

The NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru, from the Les Crayeres lieu-dit in Ambonnay, is one of Champagne’s great wines when it is on, as it is here. Given the relatively recent disgorgement, the wine is somewhat shut down, but with time in the glass, gorgeous, perfumed Pinot notes begin to emerge. This is a totally refined, seductive expression of Pinot. Chalky, mineral notes frame the long, utterly impeccable finish. This is a fabulous effort from Egly-Ouriet. The Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru spent 48 months on its lees and was disgorged July, 2010. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020. Egly-Ouriet remains one of Champagne’s leading small growers. From top to bottom these wines impress for their inimitable class. A non-interventionalist approach in the vineyards and cellar, old-vine parcels in top vineyards and long lees-aging are some of the qualities that define these sublime Champagnes. Importer: North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 336-9880

A 40-60 blend between vintages 2006 and 2007 of vines planted just after the Second World War – where previously the wine with this name was from a single vintage (though not labeled as such) – Egly’s NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Les Crayeres Vieilles Vignes Disg. 6/2013 was disgorged for me brut nature very shortly before I tasted it, but was to receive at least a few grams of residual sugar via dosage before its first (and only) disgorgement of 2013. For those reasons, I have on this occasion (as with Egly’s 2004) rated a Champagne as though I had tasted it from tank or barrel – since it was not in its finished form – and without a month of disgorgement; though that will be October or November. (This wine was too impressive to leave out of consideration, and I might myself not get a chance to taste it again!) Its scents of crustacean shell reduction, red meat, chicken stock forest floor and sea breeze presage an equally complex and deeply savory palate. There is an attractively juicy apple-y fruit transparent to nuances, and what myriad and fascinating nuances these are! Subtly silken in feel, though at the same time with a sense of chalky underpinnings, this finishes with terrific length, energy, and saliva-inducing salinity. It should be worth following for 8-10 years. Francis Egly’s expanded, gravity-flow facilities aren’t showy – though any of the huge, new incline presses like his are pretty awesome just from a mechanical standpoint – but they are no doubt permitting him to keep pushing the envelope qualitatively, in recognition of which his prices have entered a relatively rarified sphere. Globally, around 70% of production here spends time in barrel, for which Egly continues to prefer those selected by Burgundy’s Dominique Laurent. As before, very low temperature fermentations and storage permit otherwise unaided clarification and eventually low doses of sulfur. The 2012 components and 2011 blends here tasted impressive from barrel and tank, incidentally, if in rare instances a bit overtly woody. And those of us who would rather know more than less about the wine in our glasses will be happy to realize that in addition to disgorgement dates, the Egly labels now also inform you how long the wine aged before disgorgement. Importer:Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93

The NV Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Crayères is a pure Ambonnay Pinot Noir from a vineyard planted in 1946/1947. This cuvée blends 60% of 2011 with 40% of 2010. Aged on the lees for 65 months and disgorged in December 2017, this is a beautifully aromatic and fruity Crayères that shows lovely finesse and purity that stresses the chalky terroir. On the palate, this is a pure, fresh and elegant, even graceful yet also ripe and richly textured Pinot Noir with great balance, lingering salinity and chalky finesse. The finish is long and complex, fruity again but most of all mineral, revealing a great delicacy and balance. No malolactic fermentation done here. Still young and with potential. Tasted April 2018.

In Asia July, 2009 Disgorged July 2003 Appears like a very pale rose with a slight salmony colour. Delicate, fresh strawberry aromas with a gentle waft of buttered scones. Great concentration of juicy red berry flavours on the palate juxtaposed by crisp acidity. Minerals developing on the mid-palate. Long finish. Tasted March 2009.

Disgorged July 2003 Appears like a very pale rose with a slight salmony colour. Delicate, fresh strawberry aromas with a gentle waft of buttered scones. Great concentration of juicy red berry flavours on the palate juxtaposed by crisp acidity. Minerals developing on the mid-palate. Long finish. Tasted March 2009.

One of Champagne’s rare single vineyard (Les Crayeres) 100% Pinot Noirs, the non-vintage Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru (Juillet 2005) offers yeasty pear scents in a nose of gorgeous aromatic depth. Youthfully unevolved, this plump (49 months on its yeast) medium to full-bodied wine reveals a long flavor profile composed of dusty minerals, white pepper, and white fruits. It should blossom after 1-2 years of cellaring. Egly-Ouriet fashions wines of substantial richness, more suited to those who desire vinosity over vivacity. The estate’s consumer friendly back labels list both the number of months the bottle was kept on its yeasts as well as its disgorgement date. A Peter Vezan Selection, Paris fax #011-33-1-42-55-42-93, importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (800) 266-6585; Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. 516-677-9300; and Dionysos Imports, Lorton, VA; tel. (703) 550-7980