Mouzon Leroux
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History
The family has been established in Champagne since 1776 and for many years supplied grapes for Veuve Clicquot.
The first bottlings with the domaine labels started to be sold in 1930, sold under the name Champagne Mouzon. The change to Mouzon Leroux happened in 1976 with the marriage of Philippe Mouzon with Pascale Leroux, father and mother of Sebastien Mouzon and the 9th generation of the Mouzon family to grow grapes in Verzy.
Mouzon Leroux currently farms 7.5 hectares of vines in Verzy Grand Cru, divided in 50 parcels.
After completing his degrees in viticulture and oenology Sebastien Mouzon spent a year working in Burgundy, which helped him to expand his understanding of the use of oak for fermentation and maturation. He returned to the family domaine in 2002 and took over the domaine in 2008, when he started the conversion of the vineyards to biodynamic farming. The domaine is currently certified organic and biodynamic by Demeter.
In the Vineyards
Only certified organic products are used for treatments, including biodynamic horse manure 500 preparation, dandelion, horsetail essence, yarrow, among other herbs.
Horses are used for ploughing and sheep to control the cover crops used to regulate the vine vigour.
The grapes are harvest at the peak of physiological ripeness, in order to avoid chaptalization, with a good balance of sugar ripeness and acidity levels.
Mouzon vineyards are planted with 60% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 5% divided between Arbane, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Meunier & Petit Meslier.
The terroir from Verzy is quite unique, and one of the few villages that can grow equally well Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. To the east of Verzy the active limestone content in the soils is very high, producing excellent Chardonnay, while to the west of Verzy there are much heavier clay soils on top of the limestone subsoil, which is ideal for producing Pinot Noir.
Winemaking
In the cellar the fermentation are carried out pied de cuve, which involves gathering a little amount of pre-harvested grapes and allowing it to naturally ferment in order to serve as a "starter" for inoculating the various tanks with the native yeast.
The fermentations and maturation take places in a mix of stainless steel tanks and 500 liter barrels that have 4-5 years of use from Louis Jadot in Burgundy. The finished wines age from 7 months up to 24 months on full lees. Malolactic is allow to happen naturally, and dosage is maintain to a minimum.
Second fermentation is done with an isolated yeast called Quartz, coming from Champagne Fleury in Aube.
The wines are not filtered, and only a minute amount of sulfites are used. The Champagne age between 3 to 5 years in bottle before disgorgement, and spend another 6 months resting on a cork after disgorgement.
Wines
L'Atavique Tradition Grand Cru NV
L' Incandescent Rosee de Saignee Grand Cru NV
L'Ascendant Solera Grand Cru NV
L'Ineffable Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru (Special Club)
L'Angelique Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru NV (Special Club)