NV Mouzon-Leroux L’Ascendant Solera Extra Brut

ABOUT THIS WINE

100% Verzy Grand Cru, this perpetual cuvée of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay is an assemblage of L'Atavique 2015 and L'Atavique between 2010 and 2014.  The wine is vinified in used French oak barrels with natural yeast. Aged sur latte for 44 months.  It is unfined, unfiltered, no dosage. Aged 56 months before release.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Sébastien Mouzon is the elusive and highly engaged vigneron behind natural Marne estate Champagne Mouzon-Leroux, whose conversion to organics and biodynamics he initiated in 2008. The estate is comprised of 8.5ha spread out over sixty-five parcels on the northeastern edge of the Montagne de Reims, in Verzy, a village known for its northern expositions, its historical flint quarry, and for being a transitional terroir between the thin chalky soils further south (where chardonnay reigns) and the thicker clays to northwest (where pinot noir predominates).

Amid a dense vineyard monoculture typical of the Marne, Mouzon’s own vineyards are identifiable not only by their grass cover, but by small trees and shrubs that Mouzon trains alongside the vines, an agroforestry approach inspired by his experiences doing volunteer work in Senegal alongside renowned environmentalist Pierre Rabhi. Mouzon’s champagne range, meanwhile, is distinguished by non-sulfitage (even at press); what might winkingly be called a very, very, very minimal débourbage; an emphasis on used barrel fermentation; and extended cellar aging before release. The results are champagnes of a purity and finesse rarely encountered in the region at large (let alone the Marne).