Bordeaux legend Denis Dubourdieu dies

Renowned French wine consultant and winemaker Denis Dubourdieu has died at the age of 67 following a battle with cancer.

Denis Dubourdieu

A winemaker and professor of oenology at the University of Bordeaux since 1987, Denis Dubourdieu specialised in white wine consultancy and has played a pivotal role in improving the quality of Bordeaux’s white wines.

His clients included Château d’Yquem, Château Cheval Blanc, Bodegas Chivite and 4G Wines in South Africa. His family has owned Sauternes property Doisy Daëne since 1924, and he also owns Château Reynon and Clos Floridène.

Born in 1949 in Barsac, Dubourdieu earned a master’s degree in oenology at the University of Bordeaux having studied agronomy and economics in Montpellier. In 1978 he completed his doctoral thesis on the molecular structure of botrytized grapes, completing a second doctorate four years later on the filtering and fining of botrytized wines.

A well respected and hugely liked figure in the trade, members of the drinks industry have today paid tribute to “one of the greats”.

Wine expert Jancis Robinson MW tweeted: “So, so sorry to hear that the hugely talented oenologist Denis Dubourdieu has breathed his last.”

Neal Martin, Bordeaux wine critic for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, described Dubourdieu as a “golden light” in Bordeaux, urging his followers to open a bottle of Sauternes tonight to remember “the great” Denis Durbourdieu.

The Wine Society meanwhile called Dubourdieu a “Bordeaux legend and a true friend of The Society”, while Bordeaux Wines tweeted: “Very sad to hear that the wine world, and Bordeaux in particular, has lost a true legend”.

In an interview with the drinks business in 2014 Dubourdieu cited Clos Floridène – his 31 hectare estate in Graves – as his biggest achievement.

Denis, together with his wife Florence, has overseen the replanting of this vineyard since 1982, expanding it from its initial two hectares of Sémillon and Muscadelle to its current 17.3 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and 22.7 hectares of Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle.

More poignantly, when asked what his greatest regret in life was he replied: “To have only one life, and such a short one at that.”

Dubourdieu is survived by his wife of 40 years Florence and two sons, Jean-Jacques and Fabrice.