St. Andelain, Nièvre
Loire Valley, France
Didier Dagueneau, a fourth generation winemaker in the small village of St. Andelain in Pouilly-Fumé, was always know to be daring. He left his pastoral home town at a young age to become a motorcycle side car racer on the international circuit between 1978 and 1982. He, as well, competed as a dog sled racer during the winter months. Didier, upon returning home to Pouilly, set up his own estate, rather than toe the line and follow the family program. Inspired by the likes of Edmond Vatan of Sancerre and Henri Jayer of Burgundy and his grandfather, Louis Dagueneau, Didier aimed to create Pouilly Fumé Sauvignon Blanc of extraordinary focus, multi-dimensional with broad strokes of terroir. His first parcel, acquired in 1982, was 1.2 hectares of “En Chailloux.” In 1985, he added “Silex” and in 1988, Pur Sang.
Didier was always pushing for better quality: lowering yields, working organically, natural fermentation, own-rooted vines, and vinification without sulfur, but never became dogmatic and understood the limitations of all of these practices. His philosophies emerged, well grounded in traditional technique.
After meticulous vineyard work: hand harvesting from multiple passes, with extremely low yields (50 - 75% less than that of his neighbors), working with plow and horse, the grapes arrive to the cellar. From the beginning, his wines were raised in oak barrel, a combination of new and used. Didier experimented with different shapes to offer nuanced lees contact and oxygen exchange. The wine rests in oak the first year, then transferred to tank to be held “en masse” for 5 - 7 months before bottling. All his wines can be drunk on release, but benefit from extended cellar ageing. They can easily be held 15 - 20 years.
In 2000, Didier added vineyards in Sancerre, planting on the revered, steep limestone slopes of “Monts Damnés”and as well in Jurançon, far in the south of France, in 2002. This region, in the foothills of the Pyrenées, led to another passion: flying his ultralight plane over the region. In 2008, Didier was killed when his plane crashed near Cognac. His son, Louis-Benjamin, took over the domaine. Benjamin inherited his father’s perfectionism. As Didier’s wines have become very collectible, fans across the world speculated whether the style and mystique of Dagueneau’s wines would be altered. Both the 2008 and 2009 vintages did not disappoint, however. Benjamin seems to be working in a fashion that would make his father proud. The wines of this storied domaine are an eye-opening experience. As Eric Asimov of the Times said, “they have an unexpected purity and clarity to them. Didier’s wines did not exalt the stature of the winemaker so much as the beauty of the terroir.” All the wines of both elder and younger Dagueneau highlight the minerality of the site, the terroir, and as well harmony, balance and expressiveness of fruit.