Domaine Douhairet-Porcheret

Whilst this domain has a deep history spanning over 300 years, its recent and celebrated reputation was forged during World War Two by Armande Douhairet - otherwise known as Miss Armande.

She was one of the very few women running a Burgundy domaine but was heralded for creating distinctive and terroir-driven wines. She was also famed for having a glass of Monthelie with lunch, and a bottle of Volnay with dinner! 

Armande decided to bring Andre Porcheret in as a consultant winemaker. Andre was pivotal in the region, having been Head Winemaker at Hospices de Beaune, before going onto help Lalou Bize-Leroy convert her vineyards to biodynamics at Domaine Leroy. In 2004, when Armande passed at the ripe old age of 98 - with no heirs - she decided to pass the estate to Andre, who was joined by granddaughter Catalina and her husband Vincent, who took over the day-to-day management.

They are located in Monthelie and have 13 hectares across Monthelie, Pommard, Volnay and Meursault. Farming is sustainable and winemaking is very traditional; the reds are all completely de-stemmed before being aged for 12-18 months in barrels with no more than 25% new oak. All wines are bottled without fining or filtration. The village, bordering Volnay, produces wines that are not wholly dissimilar to its more famous neighbour and these wines are a perfect example of the stylistic ties here; they are old-fashioned in the very best sense of the word with structure, silky tannins and sweet, elegant Pinot fruit.