Marlène Soria: from hobby to winemaking stardom

What started out as the joy of making wine for personal consumption has led to Marlène Soria becoming a star of Languedoc’s winemaking scene.

Perched high in the village of Saint-Pargoire, between Béziers and Montpellier, Domaine Peyre Rose has become one of Languedoc’s most coveted names. Founded at the turn of the 1980s by former estate agent Marlène Soria, it was never conceived as a commercial enterprise. It was born of a simple ambition: to craft wine to share with family and friends. Four decades on, those same ‘hobby’ bottles are commanding three-figure sums under the hammer.

Auction data points to Peyre Rose’s growing reputation among fine wine collectors. In 2024, the estate’s wines achieved an average hammer price of €99 on French auction website iDealwine. Within a year, that figure had climbed 7% to €106, making Peyre Rose the third-most expensive Languedoc producer at auction, behind only Grange des Pères and Mas de Daumas Gassac.

That ranking places it firmly among the region’s elite – along with Domaine Maxime Renaudin and Château La Négly, these five Languedoc estates now exceed the €100 threshold in terms of average hammer price achieved at auction.

Other top Languedoc names include Mas Jullien and Domaine de Montcalmès; however, their auction success is driven more by volume than headline-grabbing hammer prices. Peyre Rose, on the contrary, operates in a different register.

Production remains limited, and its four wines – three reds (Syrah Léone, now named Belle Léone; Clos des Cistes; and Marlène No.3) and one white, Oro – are released only after extended maturation. Scarcity, combined with an unwavering stylistic identity, has created the sort of supply-demand tension that collectors relish.

If Peyre Rose’s reds established its reputation, it is the singular Oro that has electrified the secondary market in recent years. Oro is the estate’s only white wine and, it is no understatement to say, one of the most idiosyncratic in Languedoc.

Aged for nearly a decade in vats and bottle before release, it is deliberately, finely oxidised, offering notes of hazelnut, florals and a subtle mineral edge. Made in tiny quantities from predominantly local grapes Rolle (Vermentino) and Roussanne, it is as uncompromising as its creator.

At auction in 2025, two bottles of 2006 Coteaux du Languedoc Oro fetched €450.72 – 80% above the pre-sale estimate. Only wines from Grange des Pères and Mas de Daumas Gassac achieved higher prices that year.

Such results are all the more striking when set against the broader white wine market in the region. The average price of Languedoc whites, excluding the rare cuvées of Grange des Pères, stands at a modest €39, stable year-on-year. Yet the whites signed by the late Laurent Vaillé of Grange des Pères have skewed perceptions, achieving an average of €289 per bottle at auction – even surpassing the estate’s reds, which attract €244 on average.

Oro, while not reaching those heights, occupies a clear second tier and is indisputably one of the most expensive white wines from Languedoc on the secondary market. It is also emblematic of a broader shift: white wines, though still scarce, are increasingly recognised for their gastronomic appeal and ageing potential. In this context, Peyre Rose stands as a prime example of a more nuanced, complete vision of Languedoc.

The estate’s trajectory is all the more remarkable given its origins. When Marlène Soria cleared garrigue shrubland in the late 1970s to plant vines, she had no intention of building a cult domaine. The first vintage, in 1988, emerged at a time when Languedoc wines were widely dismissed as rustic and over-produced.

Everything changed when American critic Robert Parker discovered the wines. His endorsement propelled Peyre Rose into the international spotlight, drawing collectors eager to uncover the next great southern French estate. Recognition followed at home too, cementing Soria’s status as a pioneer in a region then struggling for prestige.

Today, the organically certified estate spans 24 hectares, 80% planted with Syrah, with Grenache Noir and Mourvèdre completing the red palette. Whites account for only 3ha. The viticulture is meticulous, and élevage is long – sometimes exceptionally so. Wines are released only when Soria deems them ready, often years after harvest. This refusal to bow to commercial pressure has become part of the estate’s allure.

Peyre Rose’s ascent reflects a broader recalibration of Languedoc’s fine wine narrative. Once viewed primarily as a bastion of sun-drenched, high-volume reds, the region now boasts a strong faction of wineries capable of commanding serious prices and critical acclaim. Yet, even at €106 average hammer price, Peyre Rose remains, by global fine wine standards, comparatively accessible.

For collectors willing to look beyond blue-chip Bordeaux and Burgundy grands crus, Languedoc offers an alternative proposition: authenticity, longevity and terroir expression at a fraction of the cost. Within that landscape, Peyre Rose occupies a singular position – a non-conformist estate with wines that are as much intellectual statement as sensory pleasure.

What began as a personal project has evolved into one of the region’s most compelling fine wine stories. And, as auction results continue to edge upwards, it is clear that Marlène Soria’s simple “wines for sharing” are increasingly being shared with the world’s most discerning wine enthusiasts.

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