Marius Bielle Lalande de Pomerol 2011

It is this approach that allows current vigneron Damien Bielle (grandson of Marius) to focus on making wines that highlight the nuances of this grape. Graduating as an agronomist engineer, he went onto oenology school in Bordeaux and then worked for the most prestigious Merlot and Cabernet producers in the world - Chateau Petrus (Pomerol) and Chateau Cheval Blanc (Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe), before finally deciding to return to the family estate to create his own expression in 2020. The process starts on the famous Pomerol soils of sand and gravel, with 13 hectares of organically farmed vineyard (certified 2021). Weaved in between the oceans of surrounding vines, you’ll find the Domaine Marius Bielle ecosystem - breaking the monotony with trees, grass and flowers growing in the vineyard, freeing space to create orchards, vegetable gardens and allowing a few animals in the vines. When vintage rolls around, the grapes are handpicked and sorted, before maceration by infusion, and a slow natural fermentation with vinification occuring in stainless steel tanks. Like a painter in his workshop, it’s a moment of focus and presence - creating a sketch of the vintage. The ‘slow but steady’ ethos continues through to aging, using concrete tanks to gently and softly raise his Merlot.  Damien grew up in contact with les “vins d’avant”, an old school style of wine in the best of ways, those wines that took the time of aging in the cellar and then in bottles before being released. This has without doubt influenced his winemaking, insisting the wines reveal themselves in time, finding their complexity along the way and without the use of sulphur, filtering or fining. Mosaique Wines