Douhairet-Porcheret Monthélie Vieilles Vignes 'Miss Armande' 2018

Mademoiselle Armande Douhairet – the doyenne of Monthélie who inherited her 300-year-old property during WW2 – put her ripe old age down to a daily glass of Monthélie Blanc at lunch and a bottle of Volnay 1er Cru ‘Champans’ with dinner. A Rotter if ever there was one.

Childless upon her death at 98, the domaine passed to Douhairet’s consultant winemaker André Porcheret – former Head Winemaker for the Hospices de Beaune and assistant to Lalou Bize-Leroy in getting Domaine Leroy up and running. Today, André’s granddaughter Cataldina and her husband Vincent run Douhairet-Porcheret’s 6.5ha of vineyards and winery.

Farming is sustainable and vinification follows traditional practices, with the whites fermented and aged in barrel and the reds fully destemmed before being aged in wood for 18 months. The results consistently outperform their appellations: witness the eye-popping value of the 2018 Monthélie Rouge Vieilles Vignes ‘Miss Armande’, which marries old-school structure with plush, perfumed fruit and a wonderfully airy texture. 17 Points, Jancis Robinson