Domaine Melody

Domaine Melody's 20 hectares of vineyards are spread across three distinct terroirs within the Crozes-Hermitage appellation and its surrounding environs, each lending its own signature to the wines. To the north, the stony terraces of Chassis and Larnage provide well-drained, heat-retaining soils built from rounded river stones that push the vine to produce concentrated, structured fruit. At Château, a striking shift in geology reveals soils dominated by white kaolin — pale, mineral-rich clays that bring a tensile precision and aromatic lift to the wines fermented from these parcels. The third distinct landscape is formed by the high terraces of the Rhône river itself, where galets — the rounded, polished stones so evocative of the southern Rhône but here elevated above the flood plain — rest over a subsoil of loess, the wind-deposited silts that add a certain textural generosity and aromatic complexity. Threading through all three terroirs are vines dating as far back as 1945, their old root systems reaching deep into these layered soils to render wines of genuine depth and site expression. The diversity of these terroirs, so carefully maintained and vinified separately, is the defining structural logic of the domaine.

The winery at Domaine Melody is organised around a thermo-regulated vat room purpose-built for parcel-by-parcel vinification — a technical commitment that mirrors the domaine's philosophical insistence on preserving the individual character of each terroir. Red wines, all produced from 100% Syrah, undergo gentle extraction techniques designed to coax complexity and colour without sacrificing freshness or imposing tannin weight. Following fermentation, each cuvée enters its own specific élevage, allowing the winemaking team to tailor the ageing programme precisely to the character of the parcel. For the IGP Collines Rhodaniennes Syrah, sourced from the softer soils of Arnas, the approach is one of deliberate restraint: vinification and ageing take place entirely in stainless steel cuvinox tanks, with no oak or other élevage vessel introduced. The intention is transparency — to let the Syrah's intrinsic aromatic profile speak without addition or embellishment, yielding a wine that is pure, fruity, and fresh. This choice of inert vessel is not a simplification but a statement: that the variety, on this particular terroir, has nothing to hide and everything to gain from directness.

At Domaine Melody, the guiding conviction is that great winemaking begins in the vineyard and ends with honesty in the glass. The domaine farms organically, a commitment that Marc Romak and Marlène Durand have pursued as a matter of principle rather than marketing — a way of working with the land rather than against it, and of ensuring that each terroir expresses itself without chemical distortion. The cépage selection reflects a deep-rooted fidelity to the endemic varieties of the Rhône Valley: Syrah, Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier form the core, with a small planting of Rolle offered as an affectionate gesture toward the southern origins of that variety. The domaine regards Syrah not merely as a commercial offering but as a kind of ambassadorship — an invitation for drinkers worldwide, and particularly in markets such as the United States, to encounter Syrah in the region that gave the variety its name and its identity. With its range now fully established and its viticultural practices settled, Melody's ambition has shifted toward a more contemplative register: to find joy in each new millésime, to make wines that give genuine pleasure, and to gather good people around good bottles.

Domaine Melody was established in 2010 by Marc & Marlène in the Northern Rhône. The 20-hectares in the Crozes-Hermitage appellation combines parcels whose terroir diversity gives the domaine its distinctive multi-site identity. A significant portion of the vineyards, including parcels at Arnas, were inherited through Marlène's family — vines passed down from her parents and grandparents, carrying with them the accumulated memory of earlier generations of viticulture in this corner of the Rhône Valley. Among the vineyards the domaine stewards are old vines planted as far back as 1945, inherited from the broader viticultural history of the Crozes-Hermitage landscape. The transition to organic farming represents another milestone in Melody's evolution, a decision that formalised the founders' commitment to working with the land on its own terms — and one that Marc and Marlène pursued with the same shared conviction that first brought the domaine into being.

Domaine Melody's range is structured around the two principal designations of the Northern Rhône, with a breadth that reflects both the diversity of the domaine's terroirs and the range of its cépage commitments. Under the Crozes-Hermitage AOC, the domaine produces both red and white wines: the reds are 100% Syrah, drawn from parcels across the three distinct terroirs of the estate, including vines planted in 1945; the whites are blends of Roussanne and Marsanne, vinified with extended gentle pressing and carefully calibrated élevage to give full voice to the mineral and textural character of each parcel. Under the Collines Rhodaniennes IGP designation, Domaine Melody produces a 100% Syrah from vines rooted in the softer soils of Arnas. Vinified and aged entirely in stainless steel cuvinox — with no oak contact and no embellishment — the 2024 millésime is designed to be an unmediated expression of Syrah in its homeland: very fruity, very fresh, and immediately pleasurable, with the structure to develop gently over two to four years. The domaine also works with Viognier and a small planting of Rolle, the latter a southern cameo within an otherwise resolutely Rhodanian portfolio.