- BrandDidier Dagueneau
- CountryFrance
- RegionLoire Valley
- TypeWhite Wine
- Size750ml
- SKU 210000029072
Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard 2020
Famous in the Loire and throughout the world for perfumed Sauvignon blanc, Pouilly-Fume sits due east, across the Loire River from Sancerre. Limestone soils with clay and flint (also called silex) contribute to the wines' freshness and often times smoky, flinty, mineral character.
Oak aging has turned what was for years the most mineral of Dagueneau's cuvees into a rich, opulent wine that still maintains a classic flinty streak with a firm backbone.
A single parcel located mid-slope on the southwest side of Saint Andelain, the highest village in the Pouilly-Fume appellation, and the only one to possess soil containing the perfect balance of clay and flint (silex). Historically, this vineyard has been known as Buisson Menard, but a few years back, a famous French wine journalist made the unenviable mistake of misnaming it Buisson Renard. Didier took offense and thus renamed it the following year.
Didier Dagueneau was a fourth generation winemaker in the village of St Andelain in Pouilly-Fumé. As someone who always liked to push the limits, Didier left his home town at a young age to race motorcycle side cars on the international circuit between 1978 and 1982. He later added dog-sled racing to his list of passions, and here too, competed internationally for many years during the winter months. Dagueneau returned to the his native village in 1982 and in typical Didier fashion, elected to set up his own estate in Pouilly-Fumé rather than join the family fold. Inspired by the great wines of Burgundy and other top regions (his mentors were Edmond Vatan and Henri Jayer) and emboldened by the wisdom and traditions of his grandfather, Louis Dagueneau, he set about to create a Pouilly-Fumé of extraordinary dimension and terroir focus exploiting the top vineyard sites around St. Andelain. He acquired his first parcel, 1.2 hectares of En Chailloux, and began to vinify under his own label in the 1982 vintage. In 1985, he added the now infamous Silex, and in 1988, Pur Sang.