Before founding Champagne Delalot in 2009, Jérôme Lefèvre worked as an art critic and curator in Paris. But then he began his ‘return to his roots’. His mother cultivated approximately 1 hectare in the far west of Champagne completely without the use of pesticides, herbicides or heavy machinery – work that Jérôme considered ‘honest and poetic’. Consequently, after taking over the business, he converted it to organic farming, and the work in the vineyard is still done without tractors to this day.

Jérôme draws his inspiration and motivation not only from the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, but also from literature, art and the ‘do-nothing farming’ approach of Japanese microbiologist Masanobu Fukuoka. While Champagne Delalot produces cuvées with a certain regularity, Jérôme has been bottling different champagnes and still wines under his own name every year since 2020. Like an artist, he experiments with different sites, grape varieties and vinification methods to create new works of art year after year.

Jérôme wants to produce contemporary (sparkling) wines that encourage reflection and question conventions. With his sustainable approach, he produces no more than 5,000 bottles per year. Nevertheless, his cuvées are very diverse, but one thing is always certain: they are radically independent.

Facts: N.M., Saulchery | Charly-sur-Marne, Vallée de la Marne, 1,07ha