Denis Dubourdieu

Who is Denis Dubourdieu?

Denis Dubourdieu is a French winemaker and Professor of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux. He is manager or co-manager at several properties in Bordeaux. He also consults at Château Cheval Blanc.

As part of his academic responsibilities, Dubourdieu is the director of l'Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin de l'Université de Bordeaux. The Institute is a multi-disciplinary research center where experts from the University of Bordeaux, l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique and l’Ecole Nationale des Ingénieurs des travaux agricoles work together to assist wine producers with the state of the art in technology, technique, and economic modeling.

Dubourdieu specializes 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.