Didier Dagueneau
Didier Dagueneau's untimely death in 2008 robbed the wine world of one of its greatest winemakers and personalities. Fortunately his son, Louis-Benjamin, and daughter, Charlotte, retained control of this iconic estate and are continuing to run the domaine with the same audacity, passion and talent that their father displayed.
The Dagueneau way of making world class wines has been to fuse modern winemaking methods with ultra-traditional methods of vineyard management. The end result is the ultimate expression of terroir driven, Sauvignon Blanc wines. Situated in the village of Saint Andelain just outside of Pouilly-Sur-Loire, the estate was founded in 1982 with just 1.2 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc.
Today this biodynamically run estate has expanded to 12h scattered around the village and in the neighbouring village of Sancerre but the quality, purity and precision of the wines has never wavered. The wines are fermented in oak barrels and aged on their lees for 12 months before being racked into stainless tanks for an additional 6 months. Bottled un-fined and un-filted these wines have piercing acidity and are austere in their youth.
After a few years in the bottle, they start to round out and develop like white Burgundy. This is when they express their unbelievable complexity of terroir and fruit. These wines are most likely the greatest expressions of Sauvignon Blanc that you will ever try.