Monmousseau Cuvée JM Brut

In France, a sparkling wine made in the same method as Champagne, but produced outside the Champagne region is called a Crémant . The Crémant house of Monmousseau, located in the Loire Valley’s Touraine region, was founded in 1886. While they make still wines as well, they specialize in sparkling wine, made in the traditional method (the same way Champagne is made). Like all serious sparkling wine houses, Monmousseau has maturation “caves” dug into the special, soft chalky limestone earth of their estate, the same soill that gives their wines (especially the bubblies) their lovely crisp finessed character. What’s really interesting is that the very clever founder of Monmousseau saw his opportunity to create this very successful wine estate by planting his vineyards and digging his caves out of what was an abandoned quarry–once used to build all the large estate homes of the region.