Domaine de la Madone

The church of La Madone sits high on the hill that dominates the charming village of Fleurie, and perched on top of the church, imperiously surveying the vineyards below, is the statue of La Dame de la Pétoche. The church was built in 1866, and local myth has it that in 1870, when the Prussian invasion of France was halted on the adjacent hill, it was she who 'put the wind up them' (pétoche). Today she is worshipped for protecting the vineyards - all 10 of the Crus Beaujolais appellations are visible from her vantage point. You can see the church almost as soon as you turn west at Romanèche-Thorins, south of Mâcon. It is on the southwest-facing slopes of this granite hillside that Jean-Marc Desprès cultivates his vines - indeed, the vines you can see immediately below the church all belong to him.

The landscape is rugged yet beautiful, and its vertiginous slopes have been tamed to grow the Gamay grape, which here produces one of the most famous wines in the world - Fleurie. Its pretty name is indicative of its heady, floral bouquet, and the silky smooth, voluptuous fruit suggests a beautiful, feminine character - yet, like La Dame on her church, it has a steely backbone, in keeping with the rugged terrain from which it springs.

The Desprès family have a gîte at the domaine which is available for rent by Partners.