2004 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex- France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé (11/24/2014)
A bit disappointing given my previous experiences with other Silex vintages. This was very linear, high acid, “cool” wine but never really budged beyond the tight lemon citrus notes. The few other Silex vintages that I’ve enjoyed were more complex and evolved in the glass. Even revisiting the next day, this just never got off it’s one note tune. It’s a nice enough tune, but given the price point and the pedigree, I expected more.
I had a 6 pack of Silex and Pur Sang from 01’, they didn’t really start to perform until about age 12, haven’t checked in for a while, but I assume they are holding strong.
This has probably been covered a ton, but was there any stylistic change after Didier’s son took over?
Yes, 2 weeks ago. I was double blinded the 2009. I wrote “silex”'after the first smell. And I don’t drink much silex. It was very oaky but very smokey. Extremely rich. But the palette was perfectly dry and ridiculously fresh. I hesitated and second guessed a GC Gewurtztraminer from ZH. The oak more or less dissappears and the fruit is crystal clean. And it develops some of those petrol spicy notes over time.
A couple of caveats. It’s not easy to pair it with food at such a young age. It is overwhelming. And the oak leaves a creamy / satin mouth feel which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Much like ZH’s wines are everyone’s favorite example of Alsace.
If you have more than one bottle I would recommend opening it with friends. One or two glasses is enough. And pair it with something like a terrine. My host served it with a duck terrine that was seasoned with red peppercorns, the wine needed something this strongly flavored.
I almost snagged an 01 when I was in paris a couple of years back after seeing it on winesearcher. Kinda kicking myself for not, but it was so early in our trip with minimal luggage.
Snagged some 06 Silex the other day. Will see how it’s doing and report back.
Opened a 11 Buisson Renard Pouilly Fume this past weekend with some very ripe cheese. . Thought the pairing worked quite well. The wine was big, but not overwhelmingly so, oak and acids were well balanced. Fruits were what you would expect, very clean. Benjamin’s name is on the label now. I don’t know when that started