April 22, 2024 - Rock solid. Brief notes from a few nights ago. Crisp pear, underripe nectarine, freshly baked brioche, lemon zest. Rich and creamy texture with a fresh Lazer beam of acidity. Great balance, medium length. Nice fine mousse. Really hard to believe this is $20, it won't exactly blow your mind, but goddamn if the QPR isn't off the charts
May 23, 2022 - This is such superb value for quality sparkling wine, just $20 in Ontario, though that's hardly a surprise as Limoux is one of the best sources in the world for high-value bubbly, rivalled only, for me, by South Africa. Made in the traditional method (like Champagne), it's a fairly elegant wine, even if the mousse is a bit rough, with characteristic fruit notes of lemon-lime, apple, pear, and, towards the finish, grapefruit pith, plus some light bready-biscuity elements and complex minerality, including salty brine. The sweet-sour balance of the fruit, riding a wave of refreshing acidity, is balanced by the pithy bitterness, and overall there's good harmony, if not weighty seriousness here, making for a refined, easy-drinking bubbly that pairs well with all manner of brunch, for example.
April 22, 2022 - This blend of 90% Mauzac and 10% Chardonnay has fresh golden apple and lemon citrus aromas mingling with yeasty and biscuit notes of generous intensity rising out of the glass. On the crisp, light-to-mid weighted palate it has lightly frothy mousse and more ripe apple, lemon citrus, and yeasty notes joined by lightly honeyed and grapefruit flavours in a dry profile with fresh, zesty acidity. Citrus, apple, and yeasty notes linger on the dry, clean, and crisp finish, with very good length.
Full report: http://vintagewinepicks.blogspot.com/2022/04/j-laurens-le-moulin-brut-blanquette-de-limoux-midi-wine-review-apr-2022.html
February 25, 2022 - Apple, pear, green apple, and yeast. Really enjoyed this bottle. We don’t drink a lot of bubbly so I normally can’t tell an $8 bottle from a $20 bottle, but we could on this one.
May 14, 2021 - Blend of 90% Mauzac and 10% Chardonnay. The medium+ intensity nose offers elegant aromas of ripe apple and pear. citrus, honeyed floral, and biscuity notes. It's medium-full bodied on the weighty, slightly creamy palate with crisp, vibrant acidity and dry flavours of lemon citrus, apple, biscuit, and yeast. It's finely balanced overall with lemon, yeasty, and touches of oyster shell mineral notes on the finish, with very good length.
Full report: http://vintagewinepicks.blogspot.com/2021/05/j-laurens-le-moulin-brut-blanquette-de-limoux-midi-wine-review-may-2021.html
July 19, 2020 - Pale color with intense bubbles. With a lovely lemon, apple and brioche aroma. Citrus flavours with some creaminess in the background from the lees and a saline on finish. Feels sweeter than brut, but probably it is Mauzac ripenes in taste. Very good value.
December 30, 2019 - A classic Blanquette blend of Mauzac (10%) and Chardonnay (10%). 12% alcohol. Tasted blind.
Pale yellow color. Nuanced and somewhat autolytic nose of yeasty French bread, some slivered almonds, a little bit of brioche, light golden apple tones, a hint of quince and a touch of chalk dust. The wine is ripe, mellow and approachable on the palate with flavors of custard, slivered almonds, some sweet white peach, a little bit of juicy golden apple, light sweet notes of Sultana raisins and a hint of apple peel bitterness. High acidity and soft, creamy mousse. The finish is mineral with flavors of cool stones, some apple peel bitterness, a little bit of sultana, light almond tones and an autolytic hint of brioche.
A sophisticated, fresh and approachable Blanquette. Somehow the wine feels slightly sweeter than it really is (if the residual sugar is within the Brut limits) - but that's the impression I've had with Mauzac before. I guess the fruit profile just is sweeter and slightly raisiny in a sultana kind of way, compared to the other well-known sparkling wines (Champagne, Cava, Franciacorta etc). All in all, a nice and pleasant effort. Nothing too distinctive, but nevertheless a pleasant everyday fizz.
January 26, 2019 - Drank work leftover pork, heavy on the fennel and garlic. Elderflower not to the nose. Dry but floral in the mouth as well, a bit of butter biscuit.
December 22, 2017 - Light gold color. Drank one large glass over an hour plus. I'll go out on a limb and say if you drank this blind you'd peg it as N/V Champagne and think its rather good for 45 bucks. At a third of that this was really a killer value and overachiever. Well made, pear, citrus, good minerality and some sour dough as well. It was really fun to see wine industry people clamoring for more bottles of this.
September 10, 2017 - Drank on many occasions. This is my go to sparkler. More enjoyable than all but a few American sparklers, on par with many main stream true Champaigns. At 12.79 per bottle super value.