2015 Domaine Serge Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume Tradition (un-oaked), Loire Valley

It is Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre that set the global benchmark for Sauvignon Blanc. Didier Dagueneau crusaded for his idea of authentic Pouilly Fumé. He knew that healthy fruit from low yielding, old vines produces the purest, most intense and vibrantly fresh wine. Domaine Dagueneau's self imposed yield limit of 45 hectolitres per hectare has everything to do with his wines not being 'typical' of the appellation. A creamy texture replaces raw acidity; mineral flavours combine with exotic fruits. The two signature wines, Silex and Pur Sang rank amongst the great white wines of the world. They are in a dimension beyond being merely outstanding Sauvignon Blanc.

The Domaine is 11.5 hectares in various plots, producing an average of only 4 to 5 thousand cases each year. Eminent oenologist and Professor at Bordeaux University, Denis Dubourdieu, the man who has lead the revolution in dry white wine production in Bordeaux, comments that "Didier Dagueneau is one of the great winemakers of our generation; an artist in the truest sense of the word. He makes wine according to an ideal in his head. His wines reveal the finesse of Sauvignon Blanc."

‘The 2015 Pouilly-Fumé Tradition offers a very clear and aromatic nose with yellow stone fruit aromas (peaches, apricots and mangos) and some subtle spicy flavors. Full-bodied, elegant and juicy, this is a pretty accessible yet stimulatingly piquant and mineral Pouilly; it has finesse and a nice phenolic grip in the salty finish. Very good, though still young. Drink 2017-2021.’ 

89 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, October 2016