DENIS DUBOURDIEU, “LE PAPE DU BLANC” AND PROFESSOR AND THE UNIVERSITY OF BORDEAUX HAS DIED. HE WAS UNIVERSALLY CONSIDERED ONE OF THE TOP WINE EXPERTS IN THE WORLD AND WAS ALSO A WINE CONSULTANT IN ITALY AS WELL AS A VIGNERON

Denis Dubourdieu, one of the greatest contemporary wine experts to whom the French wine world, and not only, owes a lot. He was born in Barsac in 1949, and studied agronomy in Montpellier, where he graduated as an agronomist and oenologist in 1972, completing his studies with a master's and doctorate degrees in Bordeaux.
He was Professor of Oenology for 40 years at the University of Bordeaux in Gironde, where in 2009 he founded and directed the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin de l'Université de Bordeaux, a multidisciplinary research center where the experts of the University of Bordeaux, the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique and the Ecole Nationale des Ingénieurs des Travaux agricoles work together to provide state of the art technology as well as technical and economic models in the wine field to French winemakers.
"Le Pape du blanc" (“The Pope of white wine") and "The Professor of Bordeaux" were his nicknames and in some ways expressed the deeper meaning of his " professional mission", Denis Dubourdieu was indeed widely recognized as the leading expert of white wines around the world. His contribution was fundamental to the improvement of Bordeaux white wines bringing them to a level of absolute excellence, as was his study on the identification of the key molecules responsible for aromas in Sauvignon Blanc grapes and other white varieties as well as the molecular structure of wines made from noble rot.
"The Professor of Bordeaux" also made important scientific contributions. Just to name a few: the causes of premature oxidation in red and white wines; the origin of the vegetable aroma/taste of unripe grapes and how to combat pollution by Brettanomyces. He co-authored the two volumes the "Treaty of Enology" (along with Lonvaud, Ribereau-Gayon and Doneche), fundamental text for enological studies and adopted in almost all universities around the world. He has written more than 200 scientific papers and is quoted in over 7.000 scientific articles on the subject of wine.

His activities, however, were not limited only to university classrooms. As is customary for the University of Bordeaux (remember previous famous predecessors such as Professor Emile Peynaud), Dubourdieu also built an intensive consulting business everywhere. First of all in France, where he worked for among others, Château d'Yquem, Cheval Blanc and Margaux (Pavillon Blanc), but also in Italy, where, again to name a few, he worked for Zonin1821 and Cantine Lungarotti.

And there is even more. Dubourdieu, along with his wife Florence and their children Fabrice and Jean-Jacques also produced his own wine. The Dubourdieu family owns 135 hectares of vineyards in the Sauternes, Graves and Cadillac-Cotes de Bordeaux divided among Château Doisy-Daene, Clos Floridène, Reynon Château, Château Cantegril and Château Haura.

He was awarded the "Legion d'honneur" in France and this year the prestigious magazine "Decanter" named him "Man of the Year 2016" for his outstanding contribution to the wine sector achieved over decades of work.