Winemaker Notes
The Champagne Mouzon-Leroux L'ascendant Solera Extra Brut is a pure expression of Verzy Grand Cru, one of the most interesting and diverse terroirs in the Montagne de Reims. This estate is certified organic wines and practicing biodynamic viticulture.
Blend: 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The NV Champagne L'Ascendant Solera Brut Nature is based on the 2019 vintage, with 50% from 2019 and the rest from 2014 through 2018. It has a medium straw color and offers more intensity and depth, along with the same savory citrus notes. The oak influence is slightly more pronounced but still well balanced. Hints of fresh walnut add complexity, and the palate displays greater depth and richness with an expanding feel. While it has no dosage, ripe fruit fills the midpalate with flavors of cherries, currants, and spice. Medium to full-bodied, yet weightless in feeling, the wine has a long, well-balanced taste of ripe and fresh apricot fruit, with a silky stone-like texture, creamy mousse, and salty broth on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Disgorged in March 2021 with 1.5 grams per liter dosage, Mouzon's latest NV Extra-Brut L'ascendant Solera is based on the 2016 vintage, complemented by 50% reserve wines drawn from a solera established in 2010. Exhibiting aromas of citrus oil, crisp green orchard fruit, nashi pear, macadamia nuts and nougat, it's medium to full-bodied, seamless and fleshy, with fine depth at the core, racy acids and a long, mineral finish. This has turned out very nicely. Best After 2021
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Vinous
The NV Extra-Brut L'Ascendant is a very pretty wine based on 2017 combined in equal parts with a solera-style blend going back to 2014, 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. Bright floral accents, lemon peel, white pepper, mint and crushed rocks lend freshness throughout, I very much like the vibrancy and overall energy. Dosage is 1 gram per liter.
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Wine Spectator
A vibrant Champagne, with aromas and flavors of white raspberry, mandarin orange peel, almond blossoms and salted almond set on a vivacious bead. Creamy finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’