Serge Dagueneau

This branch of the Dagueneau family headed by father Serge is based in Saint Andelain and owns 19 hectares of old vineyards across several of the prime sites of the appellation as well as 3 hectares in the nearby appellation of Cotes de la Charite. Today the estate is run by Serge's daughter Valerie, cousin of the late Didier Dagueneau, and Serge still helps in the vineyard.

While the calcareous soil in the vineyards give the wines ample structure and the ability to age gracefully, the vineyards of Pouilly Fumé typically have more clay and depth than the poorer more chalky soils of neighbouring Sancerre. This is particularly so in the prime area of Saint Andelain where most of the family's vineyard holdings are located.

Here the wines still show clear and intense varietal Sauvignon Blanc character and the rich clay and silex soil adds texture and generosity to the palate. Whilst this does give the wines immediate appeal, with 5 to 10 years bottle age they begin to take on more weight and richness making the wines reminiscent of aged white Burgundy.

The work in the vineyard has since 2017 been certified HEV3 (High Environmental Value) and since 2018 some vineyards are trialing to bio-dynamic conversion. The soils are partly planted with cover crops, and partly ploughed, and the family have reduced their dependence on herbicides, in recent years. Today there are 18 ha planted to Sauvignon blanc in the Pouilly Fume appellation and roughly 1 ha planted to Chasselas for the Pouilly sur Loire appellation. These particular vines are ancient, aged more than one hundred years, and they are propagated by the age-old method of marcottage. Most of these vines are planted on Kimmeridgian marl, one of the classic terroirs of both appellations.

The Dagueneau’s also have an old 100% Chasselas vineyard in Pouilly-sur-Loire which was planted just after phylloxera struck in the late nineteenth century. Located beside an old Roman cobblestone road on the route to Paris, this remarkable vineyard is now over 120 years old.

These prime vineyard sites located on the banks of the Loire River have been rewarding travelers with wonderfully refreshing wines for many hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

2022 Pouilly-sur-Loire La Centenaire
100% Chasselas from vines planted 1895. The fruit is picked by hand, and the vinification is in stainless steel, and it is bottled within a few months of the harvest. Restrained and racy with intriguing notes of anise and almost briny oyster shell minerality on the super sleek and delicately sculpted palate.
In the cool summer of 2021, these ancient vines only reached 11.5 percent octane, but the wine was lovely. In the much warmer summer of 2022 I anticipated that these old Chasselas vines would produce a riper wine, but here it is again tipping the scales at a svelte 11.5 percent alcohol! Readers may recall that these great old Chasselas vines are now more than one hundred and twenty years of age, and in 2022 they have produced a wine with beautiful aromatic precision in its blend of green apple, gooseberry, gentle grassy notes, wet stone minerality, lime zest and a topnote of citrus blossoms. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with beautiful transparency down to its soil element, zesty acids and excellent balance on the long, vibrant and complex finish. Just a beautiful wine, as usual! 2023-2033. 92. John Gilman - View from the Cellar, September 2023

2022 Pouilly Fumé
100% Sauvignon Blanc. This is the main cuvée at this estate, coming from a number of different parcels in the village of Saint Andelain close to the Loire, all planted on Kimmeridgian marl, the Terres Blanches soil that makes these wines so distinctive. Vinified in stainless steel and aged on fine lees until bottling.
As I have mentioned before, the Pouilly-Fumé “les Pentes” from Valerie Dagueneau is made from fifty-five year-old vines and is always hand-harvested. The 2022 version is lovely, coming in at a svelte 12.5 percent octane and offering up a refined aromatic panoply of green apple, gooseberry, fresh-cut grass, flinty minerality and a topnote of lime blossoms. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and zesty, with a good core of fruit, lovely soil undertow, a good spine of acidity and fine focus and balance on the long and complex finish. A very refined example of Pouilly-Fumé. 2023-2030. 91. John Gilman - View from the Cellar, September 2023

2021 Pouilly Fumé Clos des Chaudoux
100% Sauvignon Blanc, hand harvested from a 1.5 ha parcel of 45 year-old vines grown on clay/chalk 'terres blanches' and Kimmeridgian marls. The fruit is fully de-stemmed and is kept on skins for 10-12 hours. Made solely in stainless steel it is left to mature on lees (stirred weekly) for 8 months before racking and maturing for a further 16 months. Well structured and will age beautifully for 10 years or more.
2021 not reviewed yet - following review for 2017 vintage “From a single 1-hectare parcel of 55-year old vines on Kimmeridgian marl, the juice first given ten hours of skin contact and a little early bâtonnage. After fermentation the wine rested on its fine lees for between 15 and 17 months, all done in stainless steel. A very tense, salty and smoky nose, quite reticent, with a little greengage skin and lime leaf fruit. There follows a rather full, poised and sweetly textured palate, showing sweet and dried citrus peel fruits, laced with peppery energy, salty minerals, plenty of pithy energy while the fruit feels rather sweet and concentrated. It has impact, although its focus seems to be the sweet fruit rather than the minerals. There is appeal here though. 92/100.” thewinedoctor.com, February 2019

2022 Pouilly Fumé L’Odyssée - NEW - due 2024
100% Sauvignon Blanc, hand harvested from a small 0.3 ha parcel of old vines grown along the old Roman road of Pouilly sur Loire that follows the Loire north on flinty clay/chalk 'terres blanches' and Kimmeridgian marls. Vinification takes place in an ovoid concrete vat (17hL) referred to as “the egg”, in order to enhance and embellish the fresh richness of this cuvée. Its ovoid form provokes a natural vortex which helps to stir the lees, thus nourishing the wine, which develops an intense aromatic bouquet. The concrete porosity allows a natural micro-oxygenation of the wine. L’Odyssée, an invitation to a journey and a reference to her son Ulysse…

2017 Pouilly Fumé La Leontine - SOLD OUT
This wine is an homage to our great grandmother: the great winemaker “La Léontine”! This perfectly matured Pouilly-Fumé is vinified for one year in three to five year-old oak barrels. It blends the intense expressions of fruit with the spicy roundness of the oak barrel. An exceptionally well-balanced wine, fine yet powerful.
”This cuvée is made from a selection of grapes, from three parcels. The juice is fermented and raised in oak barrels aged between four and seven years, the élevage lasting one year with bâtonnage every week. I see some rather restrained but undeniably honeyed oak on the nose, with a little dried fruit, and some salted minerals too. The palate shows a charming substance and weight, nicely polished by the oak, with creamed citrus fruits, orchard fruits, peach and apricot, backed up by a pithy energy and fresh, bright acidity. An attractive energy, fresh and bright, with substantial body and polish. This has appeal, but it will need five years to soak up those oak notes. Attractive. 93/100” thewinedoctor.com, February 2019