Didier Dagueneau
About Didier Dagueneau
Often described as the enfant terrible of the Loire, Didier Dagueneau came from a winemaking family but his first career as a motorcycle sidecar racer couldn’t have been more different. A series of accidents forced him to re-evaluate his career choice and led him to found his own estate in the heart of Pouilly-Fumé.in 1982.
With that same fearlessness that he had as a racer, Didier became one of the boldest mavericks of the Loire, never failing to push the boundaries and experiment with new techniques. He was one of the first growers to experiment with single vineyard wines and also tried biodynamic practices, natural yeast fermentation and using ungrafted vines. In short – endless trial and error to make the best wines that meet his exacting standards. He even designed and customized cigar-shaped casks that maximizes lees contact.
Didier tragically died in a plane accident in 2008 and was succeeded by his children Louis-Benjamin and Charlotte, who, true to Didier’s non-conformist spirit, decided to withdraw from the Pouilly-Fumé appellation since the 2017 vintage following accusations that the domaine’s wines do not fit the standards of the appellation.
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Loire | 2 | 94-95 (VN) | HK$5,985.00 | |||||
Vinous (94-95)The 2020 Pur Sang is a compact and focused style with excellent concentration. It is as pure as glacial water. While tender and charming at first, it offers excellent precision, which is not a word you'd normally associate with the warm 2020 season. There is fine tension and structure with an integrated use of nutty oak combining with a fresh nectarine fragrance on the finish. Tasted as a tank sample, this is a 3-ha vineyard that's about 5km away from Dagueneau HQ, sitting on flint over a bedrock of chalk. |
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Loire | 1 | 93 (VN) | HK$6,795.00 | |||||
Vinous (93)The 2022 Pur Sang is done in a really sophisticated style. Despite its long élevage, it needs a little more time for its oak (demi-muids and cigar-shaped barrels) to integrate fully and for its sense of strictness to mellow. But this isn't a wine you'd crack open on release anyway. It is pure and clear, with fine texture and a tenderness to its core. The 2022 shows fine lines and length, with tangy green flavors like cornichons and dill meeting green orange on the finish. |
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Loire | 1 | 92 (VN) | HK$18,425.00 | |||||
Vinous (92)Pale gold. Vivid aromas of lime zest, quince and anise, with suave floral qualities adding another dimension. Opulent but finely etched, offering zesty citrus fruits, dusty minerals and an exotic note of green cardamom. Heady and fleshy but with a strikingly long finish that's focused and pure. |
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Loire | 1 | 93-94+ (WA) | HK$17,420.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (93-94+)From an enclave just outside the cuverie in Saint Andelain, the Dagueneau 2009 Blanc Fume de Pouilly Silex delivers an almost inordinate diversity of floral, herbal, citrus (predominately grapefruit), and pit-fruit (predominately nectarine) elements, with the bitterness of fruit pits, smoky pungency of red currant and crushed stone, as well as notes of shrimp shell reduction and iodine inflecting a long, bittersweet, yet at the same time vibrant, buoyant finish. This silken textured seducer should gain with time in bottle and be worth following for ten or a dozen years. |
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Loire | 1 | 93 (VN) | HK$2,660.00 | |||||
Vinous (93)The 2019 Pouilly Fumé Silex shows an initial tenderness, sitting quietly and not shouting that it's made it into your glass. This is a wine that has its act together, feeling integrated and balanced with plentiful concentration and a savory long finish. A delicate dill note, which is a characteristic of oaked Sauvignon peeks out amid the hush. |
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Loire | 2 | 93 (VN) | HK$11,680.00 | |||||
Vinous (93)The 2019 Pouilly Fumé Silex shows an initial tenderness, sitting quietly and not shouting that it's made it into your glass. This is a wine that has its act together, feeling integrated and balanced with plentiful concentration and a savory long finish. A delicate dill note, which is a characteristic of oaked Sauvignon peeks out amid the hush. |
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Loire | 1 | 94 (VN) | HK$7,990.00 | |||||
Vinous (94)The 2022 Silex is not a lot of fun upon release; dry and tense, it really needs time to mellow. There's flesh from the clay element of its clay-flint soils, which is felt on entry but tightens up as it moves through the mouth. This remains a wine of drive, firmness and upright structure; it speaks of the place it comes from rather than its variety. Aromatics are almost a forgotten element; this is a wine about structure and texture. There is a lemony, wild goat cheese-like note and a distinct flinty whiff. SIlex, after all, means flint in French. |
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