Côte-Rôtie, Northern Rhône
Domaine Roche Noire
9 vintages since 2018. 2 of 3 blocks open for commission.
"Three terraced parcels on the Ampuis slope. Granite, iron, and the wind that cuts down the Rhône every afternoon."
Winemaker
Élise Morin
Philosophy
The land speaks; the winemaker translates.
Élise Morin farms four hectares of terraced granite slope above the village of Ampuis. Her family has worked the slope since the 1950s. She converted the domaine to organic farming in 2015 and makes three Côte-Rôtie cuvées, all co-fermented with a small amount of Viognier from interplanted rows.
The slope is the wine. Everything I do is an argument with gravity — the terraces, the échalas, the hand-harvest because no machine can walk this grade. The granite gives the wine its iron. The Viognier, a little. The rest is wind and patience.
I've held back from commercial commissions because I wanted to understand my own land first. Five years in, I'm ready. Three blocks are open — one on the Côte Blonde side, one on the Côte Brune, one transitional. You'll taste the difference between iron-rich soil and granitic topsoil in the same vintage. It teaches you what terroir actually means.
Syrah from this hillside is not the Syrah you know. It's cooler, more savory, less fruit-forward. If you come in expecting Barossa, you'll be disappointed. If you come in to learn what a thirty-degree slope gives you, you'll stay for five years.
Choose a plot
A schematic of the vineyard. Each rectangle is a named block. Click one to see the details — vine count, varietal, soil, exposure, yield, price.
Schematic, not to scale. Relative positions reflect the vineyard map but block sizes are stylized for clarity.
Available
Terrasse Blonde
- Vine count
- 160 vines
- Varietal
- Syrah with 6% interplanted Viognier
- Soil
- Granitic topsoil, mica schist below, south-facing
- Exposure
- Full afternoon sun, reflected heat off retaining walls
- Planted
- 1974
- Typical yield
- 0.7 tons — roughly 55 cases
- Price
- $9,800/year
- Commitment
- 3 or 5 years
The arc
What three to five years looks like.
The relationship changes year over year. You don't show up in year five the way you showed up in year one.
You visit for harvest. You meet the crew. You taste the verijuice, the post-ferment sample, the first barrel pulls. You're still learning the shape of your block — what the drainage looks like, where the morning sun lands, how the fruit tastes two weeks before the pick.
The fine print
What the commitment covers — and what it doesn't.
What's included
Sample progression
Verijuice, post-ferment sample, quarterly barrel pulls, and finished wine. Three to four times the volume of a Crew Vintner tier.
Voting on major decisions
Pick timing, oak regime, blend trials, bottling date. The winemaker makes the call — you're in the room.
Custom label with your name
On the back label of every bottle from your block, every vintage, for the length of your commitment.
Annual allocation
Typical: 12–36 bottles depending on plot size and commitment tier.
Harvest visit invitation
Open invitation to be on the ground the day of the pick, every vintage you commit to.
Priority access to the winery's library
Older vintages, small-lot releases, and back-library allocations before they're offered elsewhere.
Direct line to the winemaker
Text, call, email. Not a concierge, not a customer service queue. The winemaker.
What's not
Land ownership
You do not own the vines. The vineyard farms, harvests, and makes the wine. A Block Commission is a long-term relationship, not a real estate transaction.
Farming labor
You are not expected to work the vineyard. You're welcome to visit, prune, help pick — but none of it is required and none of it is assumed.
Risk-free returns
Vintages vary. A cold, wet year means less wine. A hot year means riper wine. We don't make up the difference with fruit from other blocks. That's wine.
Pricing
How it's structured.
Commitment
3 or 5 years
Three-year commitments are the standard. Five-year commitments are offered on every block and get preferential renewal, older library access, and longer relationships with the winemaker. Some older or rarer plots are five-year only.
Payment cadence
Annual or monthly
Pay for the full year up front, or split into twelve monthly payments. Monthly cadence carries a small service fee. First payment clears before any farming decisions are shared.
What sets the price
Plot and varietal
Price scales with plot size, varietal desirability, vine age, and expected yield. An old-vine parcel on a steep slope costs more than a flat parcel with young vines — regardless of how much wine it makes.
Example at Domaine Roche Noire
Terrasse Blonde (160 vines, Syrah with 6% interplanted Viognier): $9,800/year × 5 years = $49,000 total
All-in, including samples, allocation, harvest visits, and custom label. Shipping within the continental US included; international pickup at the winery or flat-fee ship.
Next step
Schedule a consultation.
Block Commissions involve contracts and real money. Before you commit, we want to talk. Tell us which plot interests you — we'll set up a call with the winemaker.
Schedule a consultationA real conversation with Élise Morin, not a form response.