NV Champagne Mouzon Leroux L'atavique Tradition (Base TBA. Disg. Apr 2024)

94 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

From 2018 (50%) with the two previous vintages – this is the disgorgement. It’s 65% pinot noir and 35% chardonnay. Organic (certified). Disgorged Jan22. Toasty scents, touches of stone fruit, fresh and dried, chicken stock, amontillado. Very pristine in the palate yet also imbued with nutty savouriness and chicken stock notes in tow. So deliciously briny! Ripe apple flavours, some nectarine too. Rich in a way but also refreshing. More potent. Has an energy and bent.

93 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

A change in 2008 to biodynamic farming. All Verzy fruit. The idea was to shift to better ecology, which intertwines with economics, says the winemaker. Base is 2020, and the disgorgement is April 2024. No dosage. These are very vinous wines, no dosage, low sulphur or none, and wines that speak fluently of lower bubble intensity (lower bars) and expressive, more nuanced wines, without homogeneity and overly preened winemaking approaches. Frankly, these are some of the most interesting Champagne around. Very vinous expression, succulent, quite rich, oxidative in style, minerally and savoury. It hits a lot of marks for interest and personality. Sugared almonds, ginger biscuits, dried apple, nashi pear, pleasing, bitter-sweet cinnamon. Medium weight or so with bold, larger bubbles, crackling and energetic. Great form.

Wine Spectator

Frothy and open-knit, with a tangy backbone of acidity and modest notes of crab apple, kumqaut and slivered almond. Disgorged October 2018.