A Renaissance manor in a wooded park, now an organic wine estate with guest rooms.
€290for a half-day wine tour from Beaune, up to 4 guests
Private driver from Beaune: 18 min by road (14 km), €80 one way for the whole car.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
The Château de Melin stands in the hamlet of Melin, on the road between Auxey-Duresses and La Rochepot. Two turreted houses frame a square courtyard in a wooded park with a stream and a pond. Today it is an organic wine estate that offers tastings and five guest rooms.
The Rozerot family began the present château in the 16th century. The oldest part still carries their arms and a Latin inscription dated 1557. At the end of the 17th century the château passed to the Brunet de Monthelie family, who probably enlarged it. They added a second house facing the first and a wing at a right angle that joined the two.
The estate has been worked by wine growers for generations. In the 1930s Paul Dumay farmed about ten hectares of vines in the Maranges valley, and his daughter and son-in-law expanded the domaine between 1970 and 1995. Today the Château de Melin produces organic wines from about 33 hectares, certified organic since 2009, on the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits, and welcomes guests to stay.
The older house, on the north side of the courtyard, has mullioned windows and covered wooden galleries along its west front. At its centre stands a six-sided stone turret with a round-arched window framed by pilasters. The second house, L-shaped, has three turrets, one holding a staircase. Small towers mark the entrance and one corner of the park.
Saturdays are by appointment only, and from 2 November to 15 March every visit is by appointment.
Checked on on the official site.
Without an appointment you can taste from Monday to Friday, choosing among more than twelve appellations by the glass from a dispenser, from €10. The private tasting of six or seven organic wines with a wine professional, followed by a visit of the winery and the 16th-century cellars, costs €39 per person, is by appointment only and closes from 16 November to 1 March. The estate also has five guest rooms, two of them family suites.
What to combine with Château de Melin on the same day, nearest first.
Château de Melin is about 18 min from Beaune by road (14 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €80 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? The Renaissance turret carries the Latin words SPERA QUOD LICET, roughly hope for what is allowed, carved with the date 1557.
Sources
Half-day wine tour from Beaune: €290 for the car, up to 4 guests
