2008 Domaine Dagueneau par Louis-Benjamin, Blanc Fumé de Pouilly, Loire Valley, France.
A bit of oxidation lifted from the glass of this bottle of Dagueneau Blanc Fumé de Pouilly, but soon it found its form and turned on the style, still vivid and gripping, as are most of this famous producers wines, filling out on the palate with some leesy notes and a textural feel. The main impression of flavor is mineral intensity with razor sharp lemon/lime, gooseberry, quince, flinty/chalky wet stone, peach pit, almond, slight herbal tones and earthy muskmelon. This is still a dynamic, vibrant and vigorous wine, while mature and evolved, this is a masterclass in Sauvignon Blanc, one that takes its time to reveal. This 2008 vintage was the first by Louis-Benjamin, after his father’s untimely death in this same year, and it was tough stepping right into his dad’s huge shoes, but he managed it well, as this wine shows. The Dagueneau’s family history and wines is and will always be linked to the soils here with Kimmeridgian, clay-limestone and flinty Silex all playing a role here and tiny yields give age worthy structures and soulful mineral driven character. One of the wine world’s original rebels, the late Didier Dagueneau, who was one of France’s most iconic producers, was a fourth generation winemaker in the Pouilly-Fumé region, famous for his exploits as a motorcycle racer before turning to his historic collection to wine. The wines at Dagueneau, as widely known, have always been raised in oak barrels and through the1980s which included extensive experimentation, there is always a mix of sizes, shapes and percentage of new wood. Mostly used barrels are employed to allow for complete single site transparency in these awesome Sauvignon Blancs. The winery says the oak use varies in degree depending on vineyard and vintage. The Dagueneaus over the years, it is also noted, have worked with many the world’s great artisan barrel makers to create some uniquely-shaped, cigar like, very low-toast barrels and small foudres to age their wines in.
Louis-Benjamin’s wines, as I’ve said before, are living up to the legend of his dad’s Didier Dagueneau bottlings, in fact his were 2014’s are without a doubt equal to any young Dagueneau that I’ve tasted in the last 15 or so vintages, and while I have a particular fondness for Pur Sang, this Blanc Fume de Pouilly is a really impressive Sauvignon Blanc, as witnessed in this well aged version. As noted in my prior reviews, the legend of Didier Dagueneau continues, the man was larger than life and his wines show his passion and they continue to show his magic touch, these wines are mythical and wonderfully express his dynamic soul. Dagueneau sadly passed away in 2008 while flying his ultralight, and those in the wine world suffered the loss, it was a black day, but still his wines live on, and his son Benjamin has taken the weight of expectation on his back crafting the new wines from Didier’s cellars, and by all I’m seen the wines life up his father’s. Didier raced sidecar motorcycles internationally, dog-sledded and flew light aircraft with gusto, he was a wild man and lived life with a certain intensity and his wines were made with the highest standards applied and the focus was that of a professional sportsman and he was a zealot and loved his terroir, his wines were influenced by the famed Burgundy legend Henri Jayer, who went on to mentor him, and Didier honored his grandfather (Louis) too in the way he made his wines. It is hard to imagine a greater dry Sauvignon Blanc than a wine made by the Dagueneaus. I’ve been lucky enough to have had many occasions to try just released and cellar aged versions of Didier’s wines as well as Louis-Benjamin’s, and I can tell you the younger Dagueneau has now almost eclipsed his father and his quiet confidence and his respect for the traditions have Dagueneau world leaders in Sauvignon Blanc! Daguenau wines are true artworks and passion in the bottle, it was a pleasure to check in on such a finely aged vintage.
($165-200 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive