DIDIER DAGUENEAU

“We need not have worried. Louis-Benjamin has now completed two vintages on his own, and his 2008 and 2009 vintages are nothing less than splendid, fully the equal of any wine made by his father.”
Jacqueline Friedrich, writing in the Los Angeles Times

Please note these wines will now be appearing with the label marked par Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau.

He’s a chip off the old silex. If there were any doubts surrounding the succession of this remarkable Estate, they have been emphatically quashed by the recent releases under the custodianship of Didier’s talented son Louis-Benjamin. Benjamin – as he is typically known - has now made three vintages since his father passed away and they have all been exceptional. 2008 and 2010 where, in our opinion, every bit the equal of Didier’s finest years.
On our recent visit Benjamin spoke of the ‘well oiled’ Estate he had inherited. “We have been experimenting here for 25 years in every area – vineyard management, winemaking, types of oak, time on lees - every single detail has been closely looked at, to establish precisely how we could produce the greatest possible wines from our soils. Today we know what we are doing. We are still progress, and every year is different, but now any changes are at the margins.” Benjamin grew up in the vineyards and tasting great wines with his legendary father. He completed a degree in oenology and came back to work at the Domaine in 2004 after a year with Francois Chidaine in Montlouis and Vouvray and another year with Olivier Jullien at Mas Jullien in the Languedoc. He was about to launch his own Domaine when his father tragically passed away. He was ready.

It is Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre that set the global benchmark for Sauvignon Blanc. Didier Dagueneau crusaded for his idea of authentic Pouilly Fumé. He knew that healthy fruit from low yielding, old vines produces the purest, most intense and vibrantly fresh wine. Domaine Dagueneau's self imposed yield limit of 45 hectolitres per hectare has everything to do with his wines not being 'typical' of the appellation. A creamy texture replaces raw acidity; mineral flavours combine with exotic fruits. The two signature wines, Silex and Pur Sang rank amongst the great white wines of the world. They are in a dimension beyond being merely outstanding Sauvignon Blanc.

The Domaine is 11.5 hectares in various plots, producing an average of only 4 to 5 thousand cases each year. Eminent oenologist and Professor at Bordeaux University, Denis Dubourdieu, the man who has lead the revolution in dry white wine production in Bordeaux, comments that "Didier Dagueneau is one of the great winemakers of our generation; an artist in the truest sense of the word. He makes wine according to an ideal in his head. His wines reveal the finesse of Sauvignon Blanc."

Dagueneau makes a variety of cuvees from Pouilly fruit. There is Blanc Fumé de Pouilly, previously called "en Chailloux", a wine that has been getting better and better and is now starting to challenge the other wines in the range although perhaps not for longevity. It is absolutely delicious young. Next is Buisson Renard (from a vineyard at the base of the St Andelain hill called Buisson Menard). Then there are the two most famous cuvees: Pur Sang (French for thoroughbred and a reference to the fact that this site is tilled by horse) from a clay rich soil that produces a textural yet ethereal and wildly perfumed wine and Silex from a soil riddled in flint. This latter is the most tightly wound wine when young and often demands 4-8 years of aging to hit its peak. There is also a tiny quantity of Sancerre made from the renowned  Les Monts Damnes vineyard in Chavignol and Asteroid, from a parcel of ungrafted vines (a wine that is no longer offered for export). Finally there are the remarkably pure, refined sweet wines under the Les Jardins de Babylone label that derive from the Dagueneau’s property in Jurançon.

NOTE: The wines of this Domaine are beyond rare. Speak to Stuart Northey or your representative regarding a possible allocation.