A selection of perfectly aged wines from Domaine Didier Dagueneau: One of the very best producers in the Loire Valley
The Dagueneau wines blew the market away when they were first released, and they remain a benchmark in Pouilly Fumé
Rebecca Gibb MW, vinous.com - August 2024
2017 Didier Dagueneau, Sancerre, Le Mont Damné - £720 per 6 in bond
2017 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex - £750 per 6 in bond
2016 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex - £680 per 6 in bond
2015 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex - £650 per 6 in bond
Domaine Didier Dagueneau has an outstanding reputation for producing world class Sauvignon Blanc – wines with fine purity and notable mineral characters. The estate’s cuvées come from notable terroir in Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre.
Silex is one of their most recognisable wines with the wine exhibiting a smoky, mineral nature, that reflects the flinty, mineral rich soils on which it is grown. As you would expect, the winemaking is highly skilled with wines fermented in oak barrels, then aged on their lees for a further 12 months – this winemaking approach is more what you would associate with Burgundy than typically the Loire. The wines are bottled unfined, unfiltered and require time in bottle to shake off their youthful austerity and to round out.
The late Didier Dagueneau was certainly a pioneer in the Loire, always committed to pushing quality boundaries and not afraid to embrace innovation. Today his work and approach are continued by his children, Louis-Benjamin and Charlotte.
The selection offered here are all in stock with Atlas, and while they have been patiently cellared, they will offer further ageing potential if desired. have a few years of development ahead of them, should you wish to age them further.
2017 Didier Dagueneau, Sancerre, Le Mont Damné
£720 per 6 bottle case in bond
2017 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex
£750 per 6 bottle case in bond
2016 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex
£680 per 6 bottle case in bond
2015 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex
£650 per 6 bottle case in bond
2017 Didier Dagueneau, Sancerre, Le Mont Damné
95 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, vinous.com, August 2021
The Dagueneau family has been making Sancerre off the steep slopes of the Monts Damnés since the early 2000s, and it's a rather different beast than their Pouilly-Fumés. The 2017 Le Mont Damné is incredibly pure and transparent with arrow-like precision, citrus and floral nuances and some nutty influence. Precise and refined, delivering glacial purity of fruit; the Kimmeridgian terroir gives this wine line, length and direction. The lengthy finish is scented with florals, citrus and spiced apples. Lip-smacking, no-holds-barred Sauvignon. Drink 2022-2034.
2017 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex
Dagueneau’s inspiration for Silex, his most famous cuvée, was Marcel Guitton, the original single vineyard Sancerre producer, who first put silex (flint) on the wine label. It is the most important wine in the range in terms of volume produced.
2016 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex
94 points, Aleks Zecevic, winespectator.com, November 2019
Minerally and intense, showing plump notes of yellow apple and peach, while ruby grapefruit and sea salt accents add to the vibrancy. Features a beautiful silky texture and focused acidity that proves the pedigree, adding to the charm and overall harmony. Drink now through 2031. 200 cases imported. Drink 2019-2031.
2015 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly Fumé Silex
94 points, Andrew Jefford, decanter.com
From almost 4ha of flint-scattered clays around the mound of St Andelain, this is light gold in colour with a fine-meshed weave of green plant and soft spring leaf scents, full of copse coolness. In the mouth it’s a seamless pool of those green plant and leaf notes, fleshed out with quiet green orchard and citrus fruits. As ever, it's a remarkably unshowy, undemonstrative, stealthy wine, despite its fame and the reputed showiness of the variety. All is held in check by those clinging, cossetting cool clays. Give it time in decanter, glass or mouth, and you’ll see figures and allusions quietly stirring. Drink 2018-2025.