Little shy at first, showing signs of rainwater purity, salted limes, quince paste but muted. With some big air(and a pepperoni pizza ;-)) it blossomed! Gorgeous exotics of fruits and florals...gooseberry, lemongrass, mango...fresh squeeze lime...gained some weight in the glass, and salted up nicely with crushed rock and talc minerality...flint smoke, cut grass, and dried pineapple nuance...long, engaging, refreshing finish. More of elegance than power here...Super wine!
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Pale gold color. Nose of soaring white flowers, steely citrus, white peach, pear, flinty stone. With a bit of air, shows layers of crushed white stone, semi-tart grapefruit, apple core, and cool white pear on the palate. Hints of grass. Crisp acidity and lots of structural spine. Long finish of incisive white fruit, a hint of tartness, and anchoring limestone. Towards the end of the evening, an emerging suggestion of cream. Quite an arresting wine.
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The nose really opens up after about an hour's worth of air and slightly chilled. There is so much depth and elegance that it takes a few goes at getting it all in with gun flint, crushed rocks, saline, pears, green apples, gooseberry, lemon peels, white flowers, and jasmine. The Medium bodied feel is well balanced and textured with crisp, high acidity. At first the feel is a little thin, but with air it fleshes out and deepens to show off its class while possessing great length on the finish. This feels like its right at its peak. For me, I like more freshness in my Sauvignon Blanc and this is right at that edge before it starts to fall off.
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Golden colour, kiwi and ample stone fruit on the nose, flintlock and stone with linear minerality straight down the middle with a broader finish across the palate. Superb drinking. Get some if you can.
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Let me preface my notes by stating I am not a big fan of whites, except Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauternes/Barsac wines, and even less of a fan for Sauvignon Blanc. That said, it was a pretty decent line up, featuring the following wines:
2004 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millenaires (starter) 2016 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane 2014 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume Pur Sang 2014 Aeris Wines Etna Bianco Superiore 2009 Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard Pouilly Fume 2008 Domaine Huet Vouvray, Le Mont Moelleux, Premiere Trie 1993 Faiveley NSG 1er Cru Clos de la Marechale (Bonus)
Wine of the night was definately the 1993 Faiveley NSG 1er Cru Clos de la Marechale, which was a total treat (Thanks Kevin), but unfortunately, that was not a theme wine. Group WOTN was 2009 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Buisson Renard followed by a tie between the 2014 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume Pur Sang and the 2016 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane. My ratings were totally different, as I did not have either Sauv Blanc in my top 3. For me, WOTN was the 2016 Condrieu, and then the 2014 Etna with a reluctant third place vote to the 2009. (We did not include the 2008 Huet in the voting because it was considered a desert wine). So in retrospect, with only 5 of us voting, and me not placing either Sauv Blanc in the top 2, the rest of the group thought very highly of them. Therefore, if you are a Sauv Blanc fan, you should give serious thought to those wines.
2014 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Pur Sang: I am reluctant to score this wine because Sauv Blancs for the most part are not in my wheelhouse. The ones I tend to enjoy more are the big ones that approach Chardonnay, so why not just drink Chardonnay? Anyway, no score, but give my impression for those interested: This was highly acidic, but did have enough fruit (grapefruit, mostly) to offset some of the acidity. If I had this wine, I would give it another 3-5 years to develop and lose some its bite. I did not find the finish very long, nor much complexity ate this point. I do believe this wine will improve quite a bit with additional bottle age. No score for now.
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Single-Blind Anything But Chardonnay via Zoom: Drank single blind. Tangy, great lift, the minerality is so palpable that it almost bites you. High acid, lime, a bit of grapefruit. This is one of the best sauvignon blanc's I've ever had.
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Virtual Single Blind ABC Wines (Home): Very light gold color. Drank a glass single blind over 2 hours plus. Wines were poured at 4pm for transport and transferred into glass around 6:50pm. Geez, this has a wow nose, immense and it continues to build more over time - this has to be the Pur Sang. Smoky citrus and oozing of dry extract and smoky flint, citrus, lime, seashells. The palate in intense, riveting, lean with a driving stony and flinty minerality; amazing dry extract, citrus, citrus zest, amazing penetration and super long. Fantastic, and still rather youthful, but drinking just great - mindful in some ways of a young Grand Cru Chablis. My #1 and tied for group #2 WOTN.
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It has been such a long time since I had a Dagueneau, probably 10 years, and it was Silex. This first impressed me by its texture and weight on the palate. But with much more vibrancy than some Alphonse Mellot I tried recently. Both use oak, but Dagueneau has that famous purity and balance where the oak gives depth without compromising freshness. Second, this is a subtle Sauvignon Blanc, not grassy, clean, with white flowers and lemon zest. This doesn't have the impressive focus and minerality I remember on Silex, and I actually liked it less on day 2 because it fleshed out too much in my opinion, and lost the freshness you'd expect from that region. Still, this is the best Sauvignon Blanc I've had recently and it brought me back to a producer who I thought got too hyped, and it leaves me wanting to try more.
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White flowery nose. Soft citrus, kumquat, carambola and flintstone notes on the palate. Quite closed and not very harmonious in the moment. Medium bodied with a fine acidity. Good complexity. The finish is medium long. This needed some time to open up after uncorking. I’m not a big fan of this vintage or maybe it is just in a bad phase. It’s the second bottle I tried within the last 6 months and I can’t really tell, where this is going.
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I’m surprised by the rating for this wine. Had it this weekend but the wine was definitely not open for business. Utterly closed. Improved slightly over 24 hours. Needed loads of time. Probably a dumb phase of else I can’t explain. Bottle has been properly stored and wasn’t flawed.
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A year since we tried this last (Papies 94) and this continues along the great path and is a wine of elegance and class. Mineral, citrus, good ripe and evolved fruit. Less of a grassy feel more citrus edge. Bright and focused too. Solid 93
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Light straw-gold. Pear, stone fruit, peach skin, lemongrass, chamomile tea aromas. Medium acidity that has a nice build and a tongue whetting finish - starts with a chalky/grassy/citrus and then moves across orchard fruit to a slightly minty/anise finish. Something nice to drink while the Silex ages. Easy to wrap your head around but still shows nuance.
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A polished, balanced wine of depth. Clean and crisp, but dominated with white grapefruit and gooseberry. Some - but not a lot - of flint and limestone with a touch of smoke on the finish. I still miss the ruby red grapefruit that defined earlier bottles. 13% alc. With butternut squash soup topped with herbed crab then followed by sage dressing stuffed quail. Ok with the soup, but no match at all for the quail (not unexpected). With DDB (PMB, home from Iowa is with friends for the evening). (Thanksgiving weekend). Recommended.
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Sumamente juvenil este emblemático vino del Loira refleja una nariz generosa en fruta, con matices de fruta con hueso, toques cítrico y algo de fruta blanca sobre una delicada pero muy perceptible mineralidad. La boca es excepcional, hay complejidad y carácter, con muy buena acidez, amargor medio y gran longitud. Si siendo tan joven está tan rico... como estará en unos años???
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BBQ at The Papies (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): This is no doubt a special wine and drinks so well at this stage. Mineral, clean citrus fruit, the oak it has seen in its elevage if any is well assimilated and leaves the green citrus do the singing. Lightest touch of grasssy feel, light lemony touches on the finish, very bright and vibrant. Very good 94 and drinks so well now. Proper wine making here and among the best Dagueneaus we have tried.
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this was definitely better on night two, was a little strange (varietal typicity wise) on night one... wasn't sure it was Sauv Blanc, on night two it had fleshed out and added some slight sweetness to balance, felt green on night one (I guess maybe just a heavy dose of grass)... anyway, I think this will def'ly benefit from aging so I would put these away for about 3-4 years minimum... then might get to 91 or 92
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Where is the red grapefruit that used to define this wine? Polished? Yes. Depth? Yes. Balanced? Yes. Sophisticated? Yes. You might even say it’s high toned. But bracing? Unique? Definable? No. The wine is clean with abundant white grapefruit and gooseberry. Very little in the way of mineral or limestone. A touch of smoke on the finish. The acid is real and forms the frame of the wine, but barely so. I miss the ruby red grapefruit that defined earlier bottles. 13% alc. With shrimp spread and ham. Recommended.
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Very bright with lime and green apple skin, gooseberry, white peach, mango fruits...fresh and zippy citrus acidity, intriguing mango and talc like spice...florals are beautiful with a mix of flowers and grasses...amazing salinity with the crushed rock and powdery minerality. A crisp wine, but does gains weight with some air, little vanilla creme with lime squeeze...smoke nuance...long refreshing finish. LOVE this wine!
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So gorgeous. Mineralite, but apple, gooseberry, and an explosion of white flowers, heading into green grass and tropical fruit territory. Really pure and focused. Really no need to wait, quite perfect now.
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Visite chez Dagueneau: Un nez complexe, concentré, assez parfumé, mais pas d’un style exotique comme le précédent. Puissance et concentration évidentes, avec une grande longueur, mais le vin est renfrogné, il se livre très peu au niveau aromatique. À revoir dans plusieurs années. Beau potentiel 91-92 ( +?) pts
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10/23/2023 - Mrbuzz Likes this wine: 94 Points
Little shy at first, showing signs of rainwater purity, salted limes, quince paste but muted. With some big air(and a pepperoni pizza ;-)) it blossomed! Gorgeous exotics of fruits and florals...gooseberry, lemongrass, mango...fresh squeeze lime...gained some weight in the glass, and salted up nicely with crushed rock and talc minerality...flint smoke, cut grass, and dried pineapple nuance...long, engaging, refreshing finish. More of elegance than power here...Super wine!
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11/19/2022 - DougLee wrote: 93 Points
Pale gold color. Nose of soaring white flowers, steely citrus, white peach, pear, flinty stone. With a bit of air, shows layers of crushed white stone, semi-tart grapefruit, apple core, and cool white pear on the palate. Hints of grass. Crisp acidity and lots of structural spine. Long finish of incisive white fruit, a hint of tartness, and anchoring limestone. Towards the end of the evening, an emerging suggestion of cream. Quite an arresting wine.
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2/27/2022 - KeithAkers wrote: 94 Points
The nose really opens up after about an hour's worth of air and slightly chilled. There is so much depth and elegance that it takes a few goes at getting it all in with gun flint, crushed rocks, saline, pears, green apples, gooseberry, lemon peels, white flowers, and jasmine. The Medium bodied feel is well balanced and textured with crisp, high acidity. At first the feel is a little thin, but with air it fleshes out and deepens to show off its class while possessing great length on the finish. This feels like its right at its peak. For me, I like more freshness in my Sauvignon Blanc and this is right at that edge before it starts to fall off.
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3/18/2021 - Pancreatitis wrote:
Clear, colourless.
Nose still apple and gooseberry, quite restrained.
Palate explosive seaside mineralite, very long.
Delicious.
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1/30/2021 - Jeffrey Brennan wrote: 95 Points
Golden colour, kiwi and ample stone fruit on the nose, flintlock and stone with linear minerality straight down the middle with a broader finish across the palate. Superb drinking. Get some if you can.
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9/28/2020 - POBlund Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fresh and balanced with long and clean and light spicyness.
A lovely wine, wish I had more bottles
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9/13/2020 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine wrote:
Zooming Along with Any White but Chardonnay
Let me preface my notes by stating I am not a big fan of whites, except Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauternes/Barsac wines, and even less of a fan for Sauvignon Blanc. That said, it was a pretty decent line up, featuring the following wines:
2004 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millenaires (starter)
2016 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane
2014 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume Pur Sang
2014 Aeris Wines Etna Bianco Superiore
2009 Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard Pouilly Fume
2008 Domaine Huet Vouvray, Le Mont Moelleux, Premiere Trie
1993 Faiveley NSG 1er Cru Clos de la Marechale (Bonus)
Wine of the night was definately the 1993 Faiveley NSG 1er Cru Clos de la Marechale, which was a total treat (Thanks Kevin), but unfortunately, that was not a theme wine. Group WOTN was 2009 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Buisson Renard followed by a tie between the 2014 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume Pur Sang and the 2016 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane. My ratings were totally different, as I did not have either Sauv Blanc in my top 3. For me, WOTN was the 2016 Condrieu, and then the 2014 Etna with a reluctant third place vote to the 2009. (We did not include the 2008 Huet in the voting because it was considered a desert wine). So in retrospect, with only 5 of us voting, and me not placing either Sauv Blanc in the top 2, the rest of the group thought very highly of them. Therefore, if you are a Sauv Blanc fan, you should give serious thought to those wines.
2014 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Pur Sang: I am reluctant to score this wine because Sauv Blancs for the most part are not in my wheelhouse. The ones I tend to enjoy more are the big ones that approach Chardonnay, so why not just drink Chardonnay? Anyway, no score, but give my impression for those interested: This was highly acidic, but did have enough fruit (grapefruit, mostly) to offset some of the acidity. If I had this wine, I would give it another 3-5 years to develop and lose some its bite. I did not find the finish very long, nor much complexity ate this point. I do believe this wine will improve quite a bit with additional bottle age. No score for now.
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9/3/2020 - galewskj wrote: 93 Points
Single-Blind Anything But Chardonnay via Zoom: Drank single blind. Tangy, great lift, the minerality is so palpable that it almost bites you. High acid, lime, a bit of grapefruit. This is one of the best sauvignon blanc's I've ever had.
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9/3/2020 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
Virtual Single Blind ABC Wines (Home): Very light gold color. Drank a glass single blind over 2 hours plus. Wines were poured at 4pm for transport and transferred into glass around 6:50pm. Geez, this has a wow nose, immense and it continues to build more over time - this has to be the Pur Sang. Smoky citrus and oozing of dry extract and smoky flint, citrus, lime, seashells. The palate in intense, riveting, lean with a driving stony and flinty minerality; amazing dry extract, citrus, citrus zest, amazing penetration and super long. Fantastic, and still rather youthful, but drinking just great - mindful in some ways of a young Grand Cru Chablis. My #1 and tied for group #2 WOTN.
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6/28/2020 - frenchiecagowine Likes this wine: 92 Points
It has been such a long time since I had a Dagueneau, probably 10 years, and it was Silex.
This first impressed me by its texture and weight on the palate. But with much more vibrancy than some Alphonse Mellot I tried recently. Both use oak, but Dagueneau has that famous purity and balance where the oak gives depth without compromising freshness. Second, this is a subtle Sauvignon Blanc, not grassy, clean, with white flowers and lemon zest.
This doesn't have the impressive focus and minerality I remember on Silex, and I actually liked it less on day 2 because it fleshed out too much in my opinion, and lost the freshness you'd expect from that region.
Still, this is the best Sauvignon Blanc I've had recently and it brought me back to a producer who I thought got too hyped, and it leaves me wanting to try more.
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6/21/2020 - DrZett wrote: 88 Points
White flowery nose. Soft citrus, kumquat, carambola and flintstone notes on the palate. Quite closed and not very harmonious in the moment. Medium bodied with a fine acidity. Good complexity. The finish is medium long. This needed some time to open up after uncorking. I’m not a big fan of this vintage or maybe it is just in a bad phase. It’s the second bottle I tried within the last 6 months and I can’t really tell, where this is going.
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5/17/2020 - Philip67 Does not like this wine: 88 Points
Still young on the palate. Lacks depth and complexity.
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4/16/2020 - danckie wrote: 88 Points
I’m surprised by the rating for this wine. Had it this weekend but the wine was definitely not open for business. Utterly closed. Improved slightly over 24 hours. Needed loads of time. Probably a dumb phase of else I can’t explain. Bottle has been properly stored and wasn’t flawed.
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11/30/2019 - Papies wrote: 93 Points
A year since we tried this last (Papies 94) and this continues along the great path and is a wine of elegance and class. Mineral, citrus, good ripe and evolved fruit. Less of a grassy feel more citrus edge. Bright and focused too. Solid 93
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10/23/2019 - jvphoto Likes this wine: 93 Points
Light straw-gold. Pear, stone fruit, peach skin, lemongrass, chamomile tea aromas. Medium acidity that has a nice build and a tongue whetting finish - starts with a chalky/grassy/citrus and then moves across orchard fruit to a slightly minty/anise finish. Something nice to drink while the Silex ages. Easy to wrap your head around but still shows nuance.
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11/23/2018 - timewithwine wrote:
A polished, balanced wine of depth. Clean and crisp, but dominated with white grapefruit and gooseberry. Some - but not a lot - of flint and limestone with a touch of smoke on the finish. I still miss the ruby red grapefruit that defined earlier bottles. 13% alc. With butternut squash soup topped with herbed crab then followed by sage dressing stuffed quail. Ok with the soup, but no match at all for the quail (not unexpected). With DDB (PMB, home from Iowa is with friends for the evening). (Thanksgiving weekend). Recommended.
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10/19/2018 - PacoHigon Likes this wine:
Sumamente juvenil este emblemático vino del Loira refleja una nariz generosa en fruta, con matices de fruta con hueso, toques cítrico y algo de fruta blanca sobre una delicada pero muy perceptible mineralidad. La boca es excepcional, hay complejidad y carácter, con muy buena acidez, amargor medio y gran longitud. Si siendo tan joven está tan rico... como estará en unos años???
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7/14/2018 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
BBQ at The Papies (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): This is no doubt a special wine and drinks so well at this stage.
Mineral, clean citrus fruit, the oak it has seen in its elevage if any is well assimilated and leaves the green citrus do the singing. Lightest touch of grasssy feel, light lemony touches on the finish, very bright and vibrant. Very good 94 and drinks so well now. Proper wine making here and among the best Dagueneaus we have tried.
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4/6/2018 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 90 Points
this was definitely better on night two, was a little strange (varietal typicity wise) on night one... wasn't sure it was Sauv Blanc, on night two it had fleshed out and added some slight sweetness to balance, felt green on night one (I guess maybe just a heavy dose of grass)... anyway, I think this will def'ly benefit from aging so I would put these away for about 3-4 years minimum... then might get to 91 or 92
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3/27/2018 - chatters wrote:
Cellartracker in the flesh with Stefan, Mats & Tomas (L'Effervescence, Tokyo, Japan): Slightly sweaty stone fruit. Touch of herbs and apple. Sharply acidic, sour green apple, long, young. I called Loire 2015
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12/28/2017 - timewithwine wrote:
Where is the red grapefruit that used to define this wine? Polished? Yes. Depth? Yes. Balanced? Yes. Sophisticated? Yes. You might even say it’s high toned. But bracing? Unique? Definable? No. The wine is clean with abundant white grapefruit and gooseberry. Very little in the way of mineral or limestone. A touch of smoke on the finish. The acid is real and forms the frame of the wine, but barely so. I miss the ruby red grapefruit that defined earlier bottles. 13% alc. With shrimp spread and ham. Recommended.
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12/1/2017 - canan wrote: 93 Points
Christmas Party - Wine Club (@ HSH): Lovely minerality and freshness. Classic wine.
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9/19/2017 - Mrbuzz Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very bright with lime and green apple skin, gooseberry, white peach, mango fruits...fresh and zippy citrus acidity, intriguing mango and talc like spice...florals are beautiful with a mix of flowers and grasses...amazing salinity with the crushed rock and powdery minerality. A crisp wine, but does gains weight with some air, little vanilla creme with lime squeeze...smoke nuance...long refreshing finish. LOVE this wine!
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2/7/2017 - Pancreatitis wrote:
So gorgeous. Mineralite, but apple, gooseberry, and an explosion of white flowers, heading into green grass and tropical fruit territory. Really pure and focused. Really no need to wait, quite perfect now.
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7/13/2016 - d'Artagnan wrote: 92 Points
Visite chez Dagueneau: Un nez complexe, concentré, assez parfumé, mais pas d’un style exotique comme le précédent. Puissance et concentration évidentes, avec une grande longueur, mais le vin est renfrogné, il se livre très peu au niveau aromatique. À revoir dans plusieurs années. Beau potentiel 91-92 ( +?) pts
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