Log in for prices and ordering
Pur sang is French for ‘thoroughbred’. The label evolved from Didier Dagueneau’s frustration at how often wine writers referenced the fact he used a horse to till some of the vineyards. The first iteration of the label was a photographic representation of a horsehide rug!
This is rightly considered one of Dagueneau’s superstars—although, in truth, all his wines are superstars. It comes from a densely planted, 30-year-old vineyard in Saint-Laurent-l’Abbaye called La Folie (madness). It’s hidden between two parcels of woodland about five kilometres north of Saint-Andelain. Local farmers thought Didier Dagueneau was mad when he purchased the land; it was not a vineyard at the time and was full of huge boulders.
It turns out Didier had done his homework. La Folie was a historical Pouilly vineyard with very interesting soil—a vein of pure flint and silica-rich clay sometimes called chailles roulées—and its gently sloping, south/southeast exposure made it potentially one of Pouilly’s finest plots. This site not only ended up being the birthplace of Pur Sang but also the source of the ultra-rare Astéroïde cuvée, which is made from 18 rows of ungrafted vines.