Egly Ouriet VP Extra Brut, Egly-Ouriet Base Vintage 2012

A blend of the 2012, 2011 and 2010 vintages, the latest rendition of Egly's NV Extra-Brut Grand Cru V.P. was disgorged in July 2020 with two grams per liter dosage. As ever, it's a superb cuvée, unwinding in the glass with notes of crisp orchard fruit, Meyer lemon, iodine, smoke and praline. Full-bodied, vinous and chiseled, it's more tensile and tightly wound than its immediate predecessor, with superb concentration, racy acids and a beautifully refined pinpoint mousse. While its quality is already hard to miss, this is still a touch reserved after its recent disgorgement, and readers who can exercise at least a couple of years' patience will be richly rewarded with greater textural plenitude and aromatic range.