Friday Night Bubbles
NV Egly-Ouriet Brut "Les Vignes de Vrigny," $46, Michael Skurnik Wines. This wine is unusual in that it is 100% Pinot Meunier, a grape that is more often part of the blend in Champagne and only very rarely appears on its own. I've been meaning to try this wine for a while now.
Egly-Ouriet makes big and full bodied Champagnes, not for the faint of heart. I've tasted and enjoyed their Brut Tradition wine before, a blend of about 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. Actually, in one of the very first posts on this blog I wrote about an experience with that wine.
I waited long enough before buying a bottle of "Vignes de Vrigny" that the price jumped. It now costs about $56, which puts it into splurge territory for me. So when I saw a few bottles at Prospect Wine Shop for $46, it felt like a deal and I grabbed one. Glad I did, too.
The wine in this bottle spent 3 years on the lees and was disgorged in July of 2006, according the very helpful back label. The nose is just gorgeous, dripping with red fruit, and loads of sweet creamy pastry dough. I get mouth aromas of ginger and celery upon swallowing. With air time I found clean pear aromas too. The palate is sweet and ripe with honeyed red fruit and loads of chalk, especially on the finish. The palate might not be all that broad, but it is very precise for such a rich and indulgent wine. Excellent, and a definite re-buy, especially if I can make it back to Prospect Wines and grab a bottle at their price.
Does that surprise you, $46 as a good value for this bottle? Well, it probably shouldn't. What would you expect to pay for a good bottle of Blanc de Noirs these days?
6 comments:
Hm--it's not yet 10:30 a.m. where I live, so either this was consumed on a previous Friday night or you guys started pretty early today!
hi Steve - i just figured that Friday Night Bubbles doesn't do anyone anygood if they have to wait til Saturday or Monday to read it. We drank this last Friday night. I'll post this each Friday morning regarding the previous Friday night, and hopefully it will inspire people to look forward to their Friday night...sound reasonable?
They're Billiot's neighbors, but the style is totally different. I have to say I love them both, but for different things; I think the E-O is more festive, decadent, and (in the best sense of the term) a chick wine. Better with a shiny plate of charcuterie, where the Billiot is more of a sushi wine.
Dear Peter-
What's a chick wine? Seriously, not defensively, I ask this question. I think I am out of the loop, even though, by definition, I'm a chick (or a cougar).
Um... richer, more rounded, sensual, and lacking in hard edges, I guess; I use the term mostly to articulate differences between my wife's palate and my own. She happily agrees most of the time.
Example: I loves me some stanky-ass Burgs- the bretter the better- but she loves Thackrey's Andromeda. It's win/win.
I'm really glad that you two are getting along. Easy to get testy discussing things like this via blog comments. especially when a cougar is involved.
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