Egly-Ouriet’s “Les Vignes de Bisseuil” is a non-vintage (NV) Premier Cru Extra Brut Champagne sourced from the village of Bisseuil. Despite the “9998” identifier sometimes attached to the name, this wine is released as NV and, in recent iterations, is built on a single main harvest with reserve wines layered in. The current release cited by multiple critics is “based on 2019 but also includes 2018 and 2017,” as Audrey Frick reports for JebDunnuck.com, and it was “disgorged in October 2024 with one gram per liter dosage,” according to Kristaps Karklins for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Stylistically, this cuvée stands out in the Egly-Ouriet lineup for its Chardonnay emphasis, blended with 15% Pinot Noir and 15% Meunier and “all vinified in oak,” per Wine Advocate. Karklins also notes the wine comes from “a south-facing site on chalky soils in Bisseuil,” a detail that helps explain the recurring thread of chalky drive and cut in the tasting notes.

The wine’s best reviews are excellent. Jeb Dunnuck awards 94 points, describing “savory, ripe aromas of pear, melon rind, fresh earth, and briny salinity,” followed by “lovely richness, a refined mousse, and a long finish,” and suggests drinking it “over the coming 15 years.” Wine Advocate (93 points) calls it “medium- to full-bodied and concentrated yet racy and fresh,” with “fresh citrus fruit, bread crust and crisp pear,” finishing “long” and “precise,” adding that it “will richly reward patience.”

Vinous (92 points) captures an earlier 2016-based edition that “races out of the glass, showing terrific energy and cut,” with “white flowers, pear, mint, white pepper and lemon peel,” noting a 3 g/L dosage and July 2021 disgorgement. Across releases, the consistent picture is of a low-dosage, oak-fermented Premier Cru Champagne that balances ripeness and texture with clearly defined acidity and chalk-led structure.