Winemaker Notes
Headquartered in Monthélie, in the heart of the Côte de Beaune, Domaine Douhairet-Porcheret covers eight hectares of vineyards in Monthélie, Pommard, Volnay, and Meursault. The estate is over 300 years old and located behind the Church of Monthélie in the center of the village. The Douhairet family ran Monthélie Douhairet (as it was called) for many years. In 1989, Mademoiselle Douhairet asked renowned winemaker André Porcheret to take charge and added his name to the domaine.
A significant figure in Burgundy for the past half-century, André had been the cellar manager at the Hospices de Beaune from 1976 to 1988 and again from 1994 to 1999. He was well known in the region, both as a traditionalist and someone who was not afraid to push the boundaries. In 1988, Lalou Bize-Leroy hired him to become the winemaker at the newly created Domaine Leroy, where he stayed from 1988 to 1993 while still making the wines at his estate in Monthélie.
His granddaughter, Cataldina Lippo, joined him at the domaine in 2004, and while she learned from the man himself, she and her partner, Vincent, are now at the helm. They have brought great energy, passion, a touch of modernism, and a refined style. The wines show more fruit and are more precise yet still showcase the appellation from where they come.
The work in the vineyard is meticulous and shows their commitment to the land; herbicides and pesticides are banned, and harvest is always done by hand.
The wines from Cataldina and Vincent walk that beautiful line between classic and modern, with high-tone fruit, a clear sense of place and energy.
The most acclaimed region of Burgundy, the Côte d’Or is defined by a long, limestone escarpment beneath the ground's surface and is home to all of Burgundy’s most famous wines. While Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are produced throughout the Côte d’Or, the north tends to excel at Pinot Noir and the south, at Chardonnay.
The northern half of the Côte d’Or is called the Côte de Nuits. Here reside most of the Pinot noir Grands Crus vineyards of Burgundy—the only one farther south, in Côte de Beaune, is Aloxe-Corton.
The Côte de Beaune is the center all of the Chardonnay Grands Crus with the exception of Le Musingy, found in Chambolle-Musigny in the Côte de Nuits, which produces both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with Grand Cru status.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”