On an early sun-drenched morning, we arrived at the cellar door of Mouzon-Leroux in the sleepy Grand Cru village of Verzy on the northern slopes of the Montagne de Reims to find Sebastien Mouzon eager... Read More
On an early sun-drenched morning, we arrived at the cellar door of Mouzon-Leroux in the sleepy Grand Cru village of Verzy on the northern slopes of the Montagne de Reims to find Sebastien Mouzon eager to talk about farming. Sebastien is the 9th generation to tend his family’s 8.5 hectares, but certainly no one before him was working the way that Sebastien does. We jumped in the van for a vineyard tour.
He told us his story: Upon taking over the family domaine in 2008, he immediately transitioned to organic farming, first on a small 2.5 hectare plot and eventually across the entire property. His approach evolved toward biodynamics (Demeter certified in 2020, very rare in Champagne) and today he is among the region’s pioneers in Vitiforestry: the act of planting trees within the vines to create a more diverse ecosystem. Larger trees serve as havens for birds and bats, while smaller bush-like trees planted diagonally across the vineyard create a “highway for insects”.
For Sebastien, supporting insect and animal life is essential to protecting the environment for future generations and also capturing the best possible wines. To this end, he limits plowing in his rows and instead seeds cover crop (over 750 unique plants including aromatic varieties like rosemary, thyme and mint) to improve the mycorrhizal network (the system through which fungus communicate), provide natural aeration, and to bring nutrients and water retention to the soils. He lets chickens traipse through the vines to eat pests and provide natural fertilizer. And most dramatically, he has planted over 1300 trees amongst his vines. You can feel the energy and love that drives his work. The vines might look wild to some, but to me they’re perfect.
As we drove from parcel to parcel, Sebastien explained his distinctive interpretation of the Verzy terroir. Unlike his more famous neighbors in Bouzy and Ambonnay, with their southern exposures and powerful expressions of Pinot Noir, his Verzy vineyards face primarily north and northeast. The vines get that much less sun, that much less heat, and the wines deliver singular finesse and detail.
Sebastien has identified three unique slopes within his holdings, all facing northeast but with different strata of soils. The first hillside, bordering Villers-Marmery to the south, has more calcareous soil with very little clay,and is mainly planted with Chardonnay. On the middle slope where the chalk begins to sink deeper and the clay becomes heavier, he has equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay planted, along with his co-plantation of all seven of Champagnes' allowed grape varieties. The third slope, which borders the famous Grand Cru of Verzenay, has soils richer in clay which produce more powerful wines, mainly from Pinot Noir. Overall, he emphasizes, “in Verzy, the dominant part of the wine is the mineral part,” attributing this to the unique presence of silex in the soil as well.
Upon returning to Verzy, we went to the barrel cellar to taste vin clair – the still wines that will eventually become bubbly after secondary fermentation in bottle. Sebastien is primarily using older French barriques and demi-muids and giving the wines extended lees aging. The ‘22s and ‘23s we tasted were deeply mineral with great concentration and intensity. Acid levels were firm and the wines felt ripe and expressive, yet weightless – vibrating with energy.
Back at the tasting room, we revisited the current releases, which we have on offer for you here today. The bottles we tasted at the domaine had been opened 5 days earlier and were still utterly vibrant and remarkably delicious. This articulates the extreme level of quality here. These are serious, densely packed, soil-driven gastronomic wines that will benefit from cellar aging or lots and lots of air. Get yourself a good Champagne stopper and have a glass a day until the bottle runs out so you can get an early preview of what the wines’ evolution may hold.
