2018 Domaine Monthelie-Douhairet-Porcheret 1er Cru Les Chanlins Pommard 750 ml

Just 50 cases of the 2018 Monthélie-Douhairet-Porcheret’s Pommard Les Chanlins made it to the States. It’s a minuscule amount, especially considering how the restaurants that have made this historic Burgundy producer a staple on their wine lists—Eleven Madison Park, RN74, and NoMad Los Angeles to name a few—are all angling to capture a share of this exquisite Premier Cru Pinot Noir.

Because of our friendship with the importer, a California-based legend with the key to some of the most exclusive cellars in Burgundy, we got rare access. Today we’re thrilled to bring this long-awaited collector’s item to you. 

Few estates in Burgundy manage to combine historic greatness with a brilliantly bright future like Monthélie-Douhairet-Porcheret, and this bottle—which was grown on less than an acre in one of the estate’s greatest-ever vintages—took our breath away when we first tasted it. 

The nose is a classic Pommard mix of red currants, black cherries, bright plums, and damp earth, all swirling together with rose petals and exotic spices. On the palate, the wine is impressively powerful but chiseled, a featherweight boxer of a Pinot Noir that’s delightful now with some air, but will easily age for a decade or two, building complexity all the way.

The winery became famous under the helm of André Porcheret, the genius winemaker who made his name running the Hospice de Beaune, Burgundy’s world-famous charity auction. As the original winemaker for Domaine Leroy, he crafted legendary wines that are coveted by collectors the world over. 

André’s granddaughter, Cataldina Lippo, studied alongside him before taking over winemaking duties with her husband, Vincent Monfort, and the couple has infused the cellar with a new sense of dynamism. Burgundy Report declared their recent lineup “the most impressive set of wines that I tasted from any new name”—and the Pommard Les Chanlins is one of their star bottlings.

This wine shows why Les Chanlins is one of our favorite Premiers Crus in Pommard. Located on the border with Volnay, its limestone-heavy soils combine Pommard’s power with Volnay’s trademark elegance to make Pinot Noir with a sublime combination of grace and intensity. Cataldina and Vincent’s Les Chalins wine seems to personify the Côte de Beaune: It’s charming and full of complexity that commands and rewards your rapt attention.

Monthélie-Douhairet-Porcheret’s reds are tussled over by some of the finest restaurants in the land. We’re thrilled to have a share, and hope you add this collectible to your cellar.