Didier Dagueneau Explained

Didier Dagueneau (1956[1] – 17 September 2008[2]) was a winemaker in the Loire Valley who received a cult following for his Sauvignon blanc wines from the Pouilly Fumé appellation. He died on 17 September 2008, in an ultralight plane crash in the Cognac region of France.[3] He is survived by two children with his ex-wife Martine, Benjamin and Charlotte, who work at the domaine, and two children with his partner Suzan Cremer, Aaron and Léon.[4]

Winemaking

Dagueneau was born in 1956 in Saint-Andelain, Nièvre, Burgundy. His winery with 12ha of vineyards was in the town of Saint-Andelain, in Pouilly Fumé. He was seeking to make "the best Sauvignon blanc in the world". He made a variety of different cuveés, including Buisson-Renard, Pur Sang (French for "pureblood"), Asteroïde, and Silex ("flint"). Somewhat unusually for the appellation and grape variety, many of his wines were meant for cellaring and some had a clear influence of oak. He was also developing vineyards in Jurançon.[4]

An ex-motorcycle racer with no formal enological training [5] Dagueneau clashed with other winegrowers about "typicité" ("typicity" or "showing its origin") while achieving unprecedented prices for the region.

His vineyard practices were a combination of the exacting (extremely low yields, hand harvesting in multiple passes) with the unusual, such as using horses to plow the soil between vines.[6] He was described as a risk taker and an experimenter, with perfectionist attitudes to his work, cutting yields severely to achieve greater ripeness.[7]

References

Footnotes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Styles . Oliver, Decanter . Didier Dagueneau . 21 January 2008 . 18 September 2008 . 4 May 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100504205306/http://www.decanter.com/archive/article.php?id=266078 . dead .
  2. Web site: Styles . Oliver, Decanter . Didier Dagueneau dies . September 17, 2008 . September 18, 2008 . November 26, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091126144008/http://www.decanter.com/news/268009.html . dead .
  3. Web site: Dressner . Joe, The Wine Importer . Didier Dagueneau RIP . September 17, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110611035538/http://www.datamantic.com/joedressner/?2465 . 2011-06-11 .
  4. Web site: Molesworth . James, Wine Spectator . Didier Dagueneau Dies in Aircraft Crash at 52 . September 18, 2008 . September 18, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090111143705/http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,4601,00.html . January 11, 2009 . dead .
  5. Web site: Friedrich . Jacqueline, Wine Spectator . Rebel With a Cause: Didier Dagueneau's outspoken manner ruffles feathers in the Loire, but his convictions advance the quality of Pouilly-Fumé . May 31, 1995 . September 18, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081014090356/http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,438,00.html . October 14, 2008 . dead .
  6. Web site: Robinson . Jancis, JancisRobinson.com . Didier Dagueneau's final flight . September 18, 2008 . September 18, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140704002536/http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a200809181.html . July 4, 2014 . dead .
  7. Web site: Asimov . Eric, The New York Times: The Pour . Didier Dagueneau Killed in Plane Crash . September 18, 2008 .

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