Domaine Melody and Domaine Courbis
Tuesday 2 July took us to Domaine Melody with Marc and Marlene in Crozes-Hermitage, then on to Domaine Courbis at the bottom of Saint Joseph.
This is our wee little place we stayed in ….. right by the bridge and right under the Hermitage Hill. Perfect!
Domaine Melody was gorgeous, and we spent two and a half hours there with Marlene. They are on the flat land of Crozes-Hermitage, a family owned winery Marlene and her family took over from her grandfather, and you could tell how much they jumped at that chance. They harvest half by machine and half by hand and stick to traditional French methods. The wind out there is fierce, and they only net the bottom half of the vines against hail, because in France you are not allowed to net over the top of the vines, only at the sides. Marlene walked us through the whole winery and poured us so many of their wines.
At Domaine Courbis we tasted through Cornas and Saint Peray. The vines cling to the edge of the Rhone on an incredibly steep gradient, snaking right up against the forest, and it looks like every last square foot of land has been planted, nothing left bare or wasted. Afterwards we walked up to the ancient Auberge de Crussol and got a full 360 degree view over the Rhone Valley and the river winding below.
