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The
wines of Domaine Huet, Vouvray
Including a vertical of
Demi-Secs
Website:
www.huet-echansonne.com
Dating
back to 1928, Domaine Huet is probably the leading name in the Loire
appellation of Vouvray. They are well known as one of the early
adopters of biodynamics, and have three key vineyards, with 35
hectares of vines in all.
Le
Mont is an 8 hectare vineyard with soils composed of pebbly clay and
silica. Le Haut-Lieu is slightly bigger, with 9 hectares of
clay/limestone soil that’s quite heavy. Le Clos du Bourg is a 6
hectare stone-walled Clos, located just above the church in Vouvray.
It has a thin topsoil over a limestone base. The balance of the 35
hectares consists of small parcels in plots near these three
vineyards.
Grapes are picked manually in two or three ‘tries’
(passages through the vineyard) in October and early November.
Bunches are pressed intact, and gently; fermentation is in a mix of
large and small oak barrels, and larger stainless steel tanks.
Natural yeasts are used, along with those which are present in the
winery; no cultured yeasts are introduced. Fermentation is ended
(almost all the wines have some residual sugar; many have a lot) by
racking the wine and adding sulfur dioxide, which is the only
chemical that is added. A light filtration is practised before
bottling.
These
are serious age-worthy wines. Here I tried the new release 2008s,
and then a vertical of Demi-Secs spanning back to the 1940s.
UK
agent is Richards Walford
Domaine
Huet Le Haut Lieu Sec 2008 Vouvray
15.4 g/l residual sugar, 13% alcohol. Lovely appley, lemony, honeyed
nose. Quite full and fruity with some richness. The palate has
lovely weight to the rich honeyed fruit along with great acidity and
minerality. Really broad and attractive with a lovely finish. A
brilliant wine. 92/100
Domaine
Huet Le Clos du Bourg Sec 2008 Vouvray
13.5 g/l residual sugar, 13.5% alcohol. Complex, taut nose of
nuts, minerals and pears. The palate has lovely rich nutty notes and
a honeyed texture, with purity and precision as well as some
richness. This is thrilling Chenin Blanc. 93/100
Domaine
Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec 2008 Vouvray
27.1 g/l residual sugar, 13.5% alcohol. Tight nose of nuts,
herbs and minerals. Smooth with some honeyed notes. The palate is
concentrated and textured. Off-dry and with high acidity. Lovely
purity here with nuts, minerals, herbs and pear fruit. 91/100
Domaine
Huet Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec 2008 Vouvray
29.8 g/litre residual sugar, 13% alcohol. Very rich, sweet nose,
with melon fruit as well as notes of cheese and herbs. Richly
aromatic. The palate is rich and open with lovely sweet, honeyed,
citrussy, herby fruit. Some notes of straw, too. Just lovely. 93/100
Domaine
Huet Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 2008 Vouvray
53.1 g/l residual sugar, 12% alcohol. Wonderful nose: sweet,
honeyed and nutty with some minerals as well as ripe apple and pear
fruit. The palate has lovely concentration with sweet citrus and
pear fruit, straw and mineral complexity and great acidity. Long
finish. 94/100
Domaine
Huet Le Mont Moelleux 1er Trie 2008 Vouvray
Fresh aromatic nose. Nutty and rich with herby, spicy notes and
pear and melon fruit. The palate is richly textured with broad,
sweet, honeyed pear fruit and nice minerality. Concentrated, viscous
and a bit spicy. Just lovely with real potential. 94/100
Domaine
Huet Le Clos du Bourg Moelleux 1er Trie 2008 Vouvray
64.8 g/l residual sugar, 12% alcohol. Very precise with pure
aromatics: sweet, bold citrus and pear fruit with notes of cream and
lifted lime. The palate is concentrated, melony and honeyed with a
rich texture and great concentration. The good balancing acidity
means that it doesn’t come across as overly sweet. 93/100
Demi-Secs
through the years
Domaine
Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec 2005 Vouvray
Lovely cheese and herb savouriness to the nose, which is
mineralic and a bit citrussy. The palate has a creamy edge to the
savoury, nutty, herby fruit. Lovely wine. 92/100
Domaine
Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec 2002 Vouvray
Aromatic, slightly reductive nose with lovely smoky minerality
and savouriness. The palate shows dense savoury, citrus and apple
fruit, and lovely minerality and acidity. Great depth here. 94/100
Domaine
Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec 2000 Vouvray
Full yellow colour. Lovely complex nose showing apricot, herbs,
nuts and citrus fruit. Hint of honey, too. The palate has nice
texture and lovely density of complex nutty citrus fruit with some
honeyed richness. Long finish. 94/100
Domaine
Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec 1988 Vouvray
Yellow colour. Intriguing complex honey and nut nose with some
rich herby, cheesy notes. The palate is nutty and savouy with some
herby notes. Quite savoury. 90/100
Domaine
Huet Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec 1971 Vouvray
Deep yellow colour. Very rich, open, sweet herbal nose with a
hint of tinned pea. Honey and nuts, too. The palate has a
distinctive open herbal character with a hint of cheesiness.
Slightly sour finish. 90/100
Domaine
Huet Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec 1962 Vouvray
Beautifully open, lifted nutty nose. A little volatile but with
beautiful precision and harmony, showing complex herby notes, nuts,
apple and lemon. The palate has apricot richness as well as fresh
acidity and a long bright lemony finish with complex nutty notes.
95/100
Domaine
Huet Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec 1957 Vouvray
Yellow gold colour. Wonderfully complex nutty nose with some
lemony fruit, as well as peach and pear richness. Beautifully
complex broad and sweet on the palate with lovely intensity of rich
melon, lemon and apricot fruit. Still relatively youthful and
developing beautifully in a way that’s surprising when you
consider that this wine is over 50 years old. 94/100
Domaine
Huet Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec 1949 Vouvray
Gold colour. Lovely intensity to the nose: lifted cheese, nuts
and herbs, with a lovely savouriness and almost a salty character.
The palate is open with a lovely herbal quality, some lanolin, some
pear and dried fruit notes. Very lively and intense. This is
beginning to show its age, but it’s lovely for such an old wine.
95/100
Wines tasted 09/09
See also: a review of Huet wines from April 2005;
tasting notes of Loire wines
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
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