As usual, the latest disgorgement of Egly's NV Extra-Brut Grand Cru V.P., this year based on the 2015 vintage complemented by reserve wines from 2014 and 2013, is one of the highlights of the range. Wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, green apple, freshly baked bread, crushed mint, honeycomb, white flowers and praline, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with a racy and concentrated core, a pretty pinpoint mousse and a long, saline finish. (WK)

The new release of Francis Egly’s non-vintage Brut bottling is from the base year of 2017, but with fully half the blend made from reserve wines from the previous two vintages. Ninety percent of the fruit comes from his family’s vineyards in Ambonnay and the balance from their holdings in Bouzy and Verzenay. The cépages is seventy percent pinot noir and thirty percent chardonnay, with the vins clairs barrel-fermented and aged in cask, but not going through malo. Ten percent of the casks are renewed each year. The wine aged fifty-two months sur latte prior to disgorgement in November of 2021 and was finished with a dosage of a single gram. The wine delivers an excellent nose of apple, hazelnut, fresh-baked bread, a complex base of soil, a touch of buttery oak and plenty of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is brisk, full-bodied and shows off fine depth at the core, with frothy mousse, snappy acids and fine focus and grip on the long and complex finish. Good juice that will be even better with another few years’ worth of bottle age.

The Brut Grand Cru NV is a 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay blend predominantly from the 2018 vintage (60%). Barrel fermented and kept on lies for nearly one year, it unfurls with attractive notes of lemon cream, vanilla, chalk dust, acacia honey and a minty note of verbena. The medium-bodied, ripe palate is layered with fruit richness and a chalky acid energy that holds through the long, honeyed finish with hints of toast. Disgorged July 2023 and made to an Extra Brut style with one gram per liter dosage. (SM)