2016 Mouzon-Leroux “L’Anglique Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, Extra Brut, Champagne, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

100% Chardonnay from Verzy Grand Cru – soil is clay, chalk and flint. Aged in used French oak and sees 56 months on lees. (just an easy 5 years pretty much.. no big deal… DELICIOUS!)

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Sbastien Mouzon is producing certified organic wines and practicing biodynamic viticulture. There is no filtration on any of the wines and no collage; the addition of riddling aids to keep the lees from sticking in the bottle. Alcoholic fermentation is natural, using pied de cuve and the secondary fermentation is done with Quartz, the selected yeast from Fleury, the biodynamic producer in the Aube. The wines arent filtered, and the amount of sulfur used at the estate is very low. Sbastien feels, as many growers do, that a period of aging after disgorgement is necessary. None of the wines are released before they have rested on the cork after disgorgement for at least 6 months.

Sbastien now belongs to the Club Trsors and later this year his first Spcial Club, 2012, will be released. He is one of the so-called third wave of grower-producersmarking those producers of a new generation, who are pushing the boundaries of whats been done in this region, similar to Cdric Mouss, Benoit Dehu, and Aurelien Suenen. Sbastiens interpretation of Verzy is refined but also unadorned and without pretense. They are delicious wines, thoughtful, restrained, mineral, and incisive; if youre looking for creaminess you wont find it here.

Verzy, being one of the most famous Grand Crus of Montagne de Reims, is northeast facing. It isn’t as powerful as it’s neighbor Verzenay, Bouzy or Ambonnay. It’s much more delicate. Minerality shows before the fruit in Verzy with more finesse, tension, and higher register.