Didier Dagueneau

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.^[1] His winery with 12 hectares (30 acres) of vineyards^[1] was in the town of Saint-Andelain, in Pouilly Fumé. He was seeking to make "the best Sauvignon blanc in the world".^[2] 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^[5]) 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

• Le Point (September 18, 2008). "Didier Dagueneau, le célèbre viticulteur, est mort dans un accident d'ULM" (in French). http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-societe/didier-dagueneau-le-celebre-viticulteur-est-mort-dans-un-accident/920/0/274867. 

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Styles, Oliver, Decanter (21 January, 2008). "Didier Dagueneau". http://www.decanter.com/archive/article.php?id=266078. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Styles, Oliver, Decanter (September 17, 2008). "Didier Dagueneau dies". http://www.decanter.com/news/268009.html. 
3. ^ Dressner, Joe, The Wine Importer (September 17, 2008). "Didier Dagueneau RIP". http://www.datamantic.com/joedressner/?2465. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Molesworth, James, Wine Spectator (September 18, 2008). "Didier Dagueneau Dies in Aircraft Crash at 52". http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,4601,00.html. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Friedrich, Jacqueline, Wine Spectator (May 31, 1995). "Rebel With a Cause: Didier Dagueneau's outspoken manner ruffles feathers in the Loire, but his convictions advance the quality of Pouilly-Fumé". http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,438,00.html. 
6. ^ Robinson, Jancis, JancisRobinson.com (September 18, 2008). "Didier Dagueneau's final flight". http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a200809181.html. 
7. ^ Asimov, Eric, The New York Times: The Pour (September 18, 2008). "Didier Dagueneau Killed in Plane Crash". http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/didier-dagueneau-killed-in-plane-crash/. 

Persondata
Name	Dagueneau, Didier
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1956
Place of birth
Date of death	September 17, 2008
Place of death