Flatiron Wines & Spirits NY

Moussé looks, at first blush, like exactly what people point to when they talk about trendy Grower Champagnes. They’re specialists in Pinot Meunier, the long-disfavored “third grape” of Champagne (behind Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), that some Growers have made famous (like Prévost). It’s  80% of what the Moussés grow and 100% of today’s Champagne. 

Unlike the Grand-Marques (the well-known brands like Veuve Clicquot, Pol Roger, etc.), which traditionally blended grapes from across many (or all) Champagne regions, they focus on the terroir of their tiny little piece of Champagne, a valley off the better-known Marne Valley. This wine is, in particular, an expression of a single terroir, “Illite” (more on that below). They farm organically. They specialize in vintage wines, unlike the Grand Marques which specialize in blending multi-vintages to make a consistent house style 

Beyond the farming and focus, Moussé is on a mission – in their words – to “remove all masks” from their wines. That means minimal or no dosage (the sugar added at bottling to balance Champagne’s natural acidity and bring out its flavors). It also means no oak barrels (this wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel), minimal sulfur and other interventions. 

But Moussé is no johnny-come-lately to Grower Champagnes. They come by all these choices honestly. While we often describe the Grower Champagne movement as something totally novel, Moussé is anything but new. They’ve been growing grapes in that same little village since 1629 and bottling their own wine for over 100 years!

And the commitment to Pinot Meunier is anything but trend-following. Meunier has long been the most important grape in this section of the Marne and, what’s more, their home base, Cuisles, has a unique, thick band of green clay, “Illite,” under the varied superficial topsoils, which gives the Meunier an almost Chardonnay-like lift and the sort of refined texture that Meunier was traditionally reputed not to produce. No wonder the family never turned their back on the variety!

While low-intervention wines might be all the rage today, the Moussé family began moving in that direction decades ago, since at least the 1970s when they began planting grass between the rows of vines. Their farming is so rigorous and their grapes so ripe and healthy, that the ancient need for high levels of dosage to temper high acidities just isn’t there anymore (compare that to Grand Marques like Moet traditionally hit 11 or 12 grams of sugar per liter (g/L) . Moussé’s wines absolutely sing with almost no sugar added. 

Moussé’s wines are relative newcomers to the US market and fit squarely within some of the hottest trends. But they show us the true depth, the staying power, the deep roots and profound honesty of the great Grower Champagnes. 

This bottling in particular is a perfect example. The family has hand-harvested from selected plots with the thickest layers of the green, Illite clay soils. That clay, which preserves humidity and protects vines, appears to have been especially important in 2020, the third hot and dry year in a row. Moussé allows the wine to go through malolactic fermentation (which turns some of the “green apple” malic acid into softer lactic acid). Because of the quality and ripeness of the fruit and perhaps that “malo,” they use only 2g/L of dosage – the merest hint of an addition. 

Moussé is proof that a grower that sticks to its guns can make perfectly terroir-transparent -- and almost shockingly beautiful -- Champagnes. Cedric Moussé’s dream of making Champagne without “masks” is alive and well: this is a wine with a complex nose, lifted and bright and very expressive even though it’s still very, very young. The palate is complex and expands through bright and minerally flavors with an almost red-wine bright red note. Too focused to be decadent and too generous to be austere.  

A little family history:

When the Nazis occupied Champagne the region was, for a time, a hotbed of resistance. Eugene Moussé and his son Edmond were active, sabotaging infrastructure and hiding downed airmen. The Gestapo  eventually uncovered the network and arrested most of its members, including Eugene and Edmond, who were interned in work camps together for a time before being separated. Edmond eventually made it home and took over the domaine, but Eugene died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.