Marc Delienne ‘Avalanche de Printemps’ Fleurie Rouge 2019

Location: France, Beaujolais, Fleurie

Winemaker: Marc Delienne

Grapes: Gamay (40-80 years old)

Soil: Sandy, sandy loam stemmed from granite

Winemaking: After sorting, grapes are left whole cluster and moved to concrete vats. After a quick, temperature-controlled fermentation (12 days only) using native yeasts only, the wine is then moved to age in 30hl foudres for 18 months. Bottled unfined, unfiltered. Tiny dose of SO2 at bottling.

From us at M&L: Carved out of a broken-tea-cup -shaped amphitheater on a hillside of Fleurie, Marc Delienne’s wines remind us of why we fell in love with Beaujolais in the first place.

From the Importer Jeffrey Alpert: Marc Delienne might well agree with the adage that it’s never too late to follow your heart. At 56 years old, Marc Delienne decided that enough was enough: he would leave his career working in the banking and IT sectors in Paris and finally try live his dream to spend his time in the vineyard. He began working as in the vines as well as the cellar at Domaine de Trévallon. Two years later he worked under Alain Graillot at Domaine de Fa, wherein he was involved with all aspects of the the winemaking. Marc finally made the leap the following year and purchased Château de l’Abbaye Saint Laurent d’Arpayé right in the middle of Fleurie. Marc currently farms 13ha hectares Fleurie, 0.75ha in Beaujolais-Village, and 0.25ha in Beaujolais. His vines range from 40 to 80 years of age. Marc began practicing organic and biodynamic practices as soon as he took over the vines. His domaine was certified organic in 2018. Demeter certification followed in 2020. Marc grapes all of his grapes by hand, never capitalizes, and eschews the use of all herbicides and pesticides in the vines. SO2 levels are kept to a bare minimum.