We hope that Didier Dagueneau doesn't take offence when we describe him as looking half caveman and half ex-hippie. A huge mane of red hair, proper farmer's hands and serious passion burning in his eyes set him apart from his rather more genteel neighbours in Pouilly. His father and uncle both own wineries and Dagueneau was therefore surrounded by wine from an early age, starting his winemaking career in the early 1980s. In fact, he was more interested in motorcross riding (now dog-sledding!) than he was in the way his family made wine, so he went off to set up on his own.

He farms about 11 hectares using bio-dynamic practices - even to the extent of tilling his vineyards by horse - and has cut the yields of his vines down to less than half the norm for Pouilly Fumé. This means that he gets fabulous concentration from his grapes which he harvests only when they taste ripe and not just when they have reached the correct sugar levels. He is a passionate proponent of the idea of terroir and it shows in his wines. Whilst much of Pouilly's soil is clay, the majority of Didier's land is slate.

He also has revolutionary ideas about oak - something which is very rarely used in the production of Pouilly. His wooden barrels all have DSLS printed on them: "Dieu seul le sait", meaning God only knows where this comes from! He reckons that most coopers who tell you that the oak comes from Allier, Limousin or Tronçais really have no idea - he just wants good wood.

Didier produces three main cuvées. His En Chailloux is the only one which is not totally fermented in oak. Half of the final blend, which comes from several vineyards, is fermented in stainless steel. This is a wine which is soft and easy drinking by comparison with his others which all, unusually for Sauvignon Blanc, benefit from a few years ageing. Then come his two superstar wines, both from slate soils: Pur Sang which has a wonderful balance of oak and fruit, and Silex an almost unbelievable mélange of richness, flintiness and wood allied to the huge concentration of fruit produced by his oldest vines.

This is Pouilly Fumé….but not as we know it.