Egly-Ouriet Coteaux Champenois Ambonnay Rouge Grands Côtes 2023

Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(Single parcel of four plots of mid-slope Ambonnay old vines in an amphitheatre; low yields of just 35hL/hectare; vinified and aged for 18–22 months entirely in oak barrels; miniscule production of 200 cases). From a plot of very old pinot noir vines in a sun-catching amphitheatre on the mid-slope of Ambonnay, Francis Egly produces the finest Coteaux Champenois in all of Champagne...one of the greatest pinot noirs on earth outside of the fabled grand crus of Burgundy itself, and the first Coteaux Champenois that I have ever seen achieve true grand cru heights, by lofty Burgundian standards. Its perfume is enticing and alluring, beckoning with exacting red cherry fruit of the most gorgeous purity, swept with sublime fragrance of pure violets. Brimming with white pepper, beetroot, sarsaparilla and exotic spice, yet it is not its grand complexity that elevates it to hitherto unknown heights, but its core of enthralling red cherry, hovering motionless, haunting and spellbinding, like a silent mist over a sea of fine chalk minerality. A tannin web of silky-fine grace juxtaposes a high-cocoa dark chocolate grip, infusing a confidence that will sustain it for three decades and beyond. (2020-2021)"