Domaine Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard VdF Loire Valley 2022

One of France's great, iconic estates, making singular, age-worthy Sauvignon Blancs from the appellation of Pouilly-Fumé in the Loire Valley. Didier Dagueneau was one of the first in the region to experiment with single-parcel wines, starting with "En Chailloux" in 1982, and later "Pur Sang" in 1988. Vines are farmed meticulously, with an average of one full time worker per hectare, which is unheard of except at top domaines like Bize-Leroy. The cellar is pristine, very cold, and home to many cutting-edge experiments like the rare hermetically sealed glass "wine globe". Sadly, on September 17, 2008, tragedy struck, and Didier was killed when his plane crashed near Cognac. The world mourned at the loss one of its visionary winemakers who was 52 upon his death. Didier was survived by his son and daughter, Louis Benjamin and Charlotte. Both had grown up at the winery, and in recent years, Benjamin had worked alongside his father in the vineyards and cellar and had very much absorbed his perfectionist attitudes and practices. Nonetheless, there were enormous shoes to fill, and the wine world watched with quiet reserve to see whether there would be any questions about the succession of this great estate. However, after seeing the truly remarkable results in both the `08 and `09 vintages, it was clear that the winery would not miss a beat at Benjamin's helm. In fact, when asked, many journalists and winemakers seem to mutter under their breath that in a few short years the son may have already surpassed qualitatively the remarkable achievements of the father?! For the modest, yet quietly confident Benjamin, these comparisons are not what motivates him, but rather an inner drive to continue to push the limits of quality in all the wines that he makes. For sure, however, Didier would have been proud. The wines at Domaine Didier Dagueneau deserve their rightful place among the great "singular" wines of the world. Eric Asimov, in his obituary of the late Didier Dagueneau in the New York Times seemed to sum it up well, "Tasting a Dagueneau wine for the first time was a revelation. His Sauvignon Blancs had an unexpected purity and clarity to them. The flavors were intense but nuanced. It wasn't the fruit that was piercing, as in so many Sauvignon Blancs, but the freshness and the focus. As powerful a personality as he was, his wines did not exalt the stature of the winemaker so much as the beauty of the terroir."