Denis Dubourdieu -- A True Legendary Person

"UN SIECLE AVEC DE GRANDS MILLESIMES, DE GRANDS HOMMES,AUJOURD'HUI CE SIECLE VIENT DE PERDRE UN HOMME QUI LAISSE DANS NOS COEURS UNE SOLITUDE PROFONDE LE MONDE DU VIN PLEURE SA DISPARITION MERCI MONSIEUR DUBOURDIEU POUR CE QUE VOUS NOUS AVEZ LAISSE."--Tributes by JENNYFER DEVEZE

These Days I 've been thinking about what should start to write on blog. I was really shocked when I saw the news about Denis Dubourdieu. A great man ought to be remembered by us.

Professor Denis Dubourdieu, one of the most respected winemakers and wine researchers of his generation, died on 26 July following a protracted battle with brain cancer. He was 67.

Professor Dubourdieu, who in 2016 was awarded both Decanter’s Man of the Year and The Legion d'Honneur

Denis Dubourdieu was a French winemaker and professor of oenology at the University of Bordeaux. He managed or co-managed several properties in Bordeaux, including:

Château Doisy Daëne( Barsac)

Château Cantegril（Barsac）

Château Reynon

Château Haura

Clos Floridène

He also consulted at Château Cheval Blanc and Chateau D'yquem

Dubourdieu has also either carried out or overseen seminal research on:

• The causes of premature oxidation in red and white wines
• The origin of the vegetal, green pepper taste typical of underripe grapes
• How to combat the barnyard smell of the brettanomyces yeast, or ‘Brett’
• Identifying molecules responsible for aromatics in Sauvignon Blanc grapes and other varieties
• The molecular structure of noble rot wines
• Best practice in the vineyard and during fermentation to ensure the most aromatic wines in the final glass

​Dubourdieu specialized in winemaking processes for white wines,and has been called "wine’s most famous scientist". He played a leading role in the improvement of white Bordeaux Wines , which as late as the 1960s were sweet and of low quality, to become "serious, potentially profound dry whites".Innovations proposed by Dubourdieu include organic farming, oak barrel fermentation with extended skin contact, and improved bottling techniques.

He and his wife Florence built a vineyard that combines their names—Clos Floridène—in the 1980s south of the city of Bordeaux at Pujols sur Ciron. This became one of several vineyards Dubourdieu would own and manage during his life. When interviewed by Berdin for his book, Dubourdieu shared his love for wines by speaking about them as living beings, incapable of being divorced from emotion. “When one speaks about one’s own wines, like when one speaks about one’s children or one’s loved ones, there is always a lack of objectivity,” he said.