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Domaine Huet

Breathtaking Chenin Blanc from a Biodynamic Icon

What a joy to be able to work with, offer and drink, the wondrous wines, young and old, of such a legendary producer. The story of this illustrious Vouvray Estate pivots on an axis of three great single vineyards; on the enigmatic variety, Chenin Blanc; on a unique limestone soil (tuffeau); and on a well-honed, perfectionist, viticultural and winemaking approach. Huet is a Domaine capable of producing wines that can live and develop for 50-plus years, wines with a confluence of remarkable purity and power.

Domaine Huet was founded in 1928 by Victor Huet, however, it was his son, Gaston, who was to make this Estate one of the greatest France had ever known. Gaston worked with his father until 1937, after which he took full control. Over the next five decades, Gaston drove the Huet name to greater and greater heights. He inherited the Haut-Lieu vineyard and went on to purchase Clos du Bourg in 1953 and the Le Mont site in 1957. These three great terroirs were the foundations on which Domaine Huet’s now enviable reputation was built. 

In 1971, Noël Pinguet, Gaston’s son-in-law, joined the Estate and another era began. Together, Gaston and Noël continued the progress of the estate. It was Pinguet who converted the vineyards to biodynamics in the late 80s and put greater emphasis on the purity and precision of the wines. When Gaston Huet passed in 2002, Pinguet sought a financial partner and in 2003, Anthony Hwang, a New York-based businessman, invested in the Estate. The Hwang family continued to work with Noël Pinguet for a decade until the latter’s retirement in 2012. 

No matter the style, all of the wines of Domaine Huet are remarkable. They are fantastically aromatic and dance across the palate with a zest and an intensity that seems otherworldly.

2018 marked the last grape-to-glass vintage for Huet’s renowned viticulturist-winemaker Jean-Bernard Berthomé, the driving force behind Huet’s advancement in biodynamic farming. Before handing over the reins to his successor, Berthomé worked the 2019 vintage alongside Benjamin Joliveau (who has worked at the estate since 2008 and was hand-picked by Noël Pinguet) right up to the point where the wines had finished their fermentations.

In her role as President, Sarah Hwang heads up the business side of things. It is really an exceptional team as anyone in the region will tell you. It seems clear that we have now entered yet another exciting era in the story of Domaine Huet. The Hwang family has already proven that they are committed to the continued, positive evolution of the Estate and have spared no expense to this end. As Francois Chidaine recently told us, the Huet legacy is “...in very good hands”.

The wines of Domaine Huet are bottled and labelled according to their three celebrated vineyard sites. Each vineyard expresses unique characteristics, and each can be made in three, or sometimes four styles, reflecting the Domaine’s philosophy of allowing each vineyard to express itself in the context of the vintage: Sec (bone dry), Demi-Sec (off-dry, typically 10-20 g/lt residual) and Moelleux (slightly sweeter at approximately 30 g/lt). If the vintage allows, each vineyard may also produce a Moelleux 1er Trie (the first picking of botrytised berries) that produces a wine with residual sugar of about 60-100 g/lt and yet also with very high acidity. 

Like all great “sweet” wines of the world, the wines from demi-sec onwards taste deceptively dry because of the terrific sugar/acid balance. These are excellent food wines and should not be thought of as ‘dessert wines’ to be served exclusively at the end of the meal. Rather they are far better served throughout the meal or with delicate cheeses. The exception is the ‘super cuvée’ Cuvée Constance which is only made in the greatest sweet wine years from a blend of the most concentrated botrytised fruit from all three vineyards. This is truly one of the great sweet wines of the world and is best served with dessert or cheese.

There are also some exceptional sparkling, pétillant, wines produced here with the dosage often coming from older demi-sec wines. These wines have a lighter bubble than traditional sparkling wines and are a wonderful alternative to Champagne. All the grapes for the wines of Domaine Huet are hand harvested with multiple passes, or tries, through the vineyard. This enables the selection of only the best bunches of clean fruit for dry and sparkling wines and shrivelled and botrytised grapes for sweet wines. No malolactic fermentation and no new oak are used in the maturation process, with the aim being to retain the freshness and purity of the grapes for all the wine styles.

All of the wines of Domaine Huet are remarkable. They are fantastically aromatic and dance across the palate with a zest and an intensity that seems otherworldly. They are constantly evolving both in the glass and in the bottle and are seemingly immortal. Huet wines from the 40s and 50s are still drinking wonderfully!

Le Mont  

Purchased in 1957, the steep, rocky, eight-hectare vineyard of Le Mont lies on Vouvray’s esteemed Première Côte, part of a bank of limestone-rich hillside vineyards overlooking Tours. The argilo-siliceux soils (stony, with green, mineral clays and flint over limestone) of this block provide the tight structure and pungent minerality that Le Mont is renowned for. With less clay (and a different type of clay) and more stone than Le Haut-Lieu, this is a site that typically produces the nerviest wines in the Huet stable, so it is mostly dry and off-dry whites produced from this vineyard. 

Clos du Bourg 

Perched on the Première Côte, just above the town of Vouvray, Clos du Bourg is a monopole and generally regarded as the greatest of the three Huet single vineyards. It has been farmed by the domaine since 1953 (purchased in 1963). Arguably the greatest vineyard in the region, Clos du Bourg produces some of the most powerful, thrilling and long-lived white wines in Europe. With only one metre of topsoil over solid limestone, the vines tap almost immediately into the mineral resources underneath. The warmth of the site, combined with the mineral complexion of the soils, results in rich and super long-lived wines that seem to effortlessly combine intense, charged minerality with generous texture and concentration. 

Le Haut-Lieu  

This was the estate’s first vineyard, purchased in 1928, and is situated on the ‘Première Côte’. It’s a 9-hectare plot on deep, brown, chalky clay (known as aubuis). Here the yellow limestone (tuffeau) bedrock lies up to four metres down, making for a richer soil that produces round, supple wines that can drink very well young. It generally produces the earliest maturing of the three cuvées and is usually the first to be ready for drinking, but, like the Clos du Bourg and Le Mont, the wines can be extremely long-lived. We have enjoyed bottles from the 40s that are still drinking very well!

Currently Available

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2023

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2023

Recognised since the 15th century as being one of the most distinguished sites in the appellation, Le Mont was also known locally as Perruches, a local name for the greenish-tinged clay soils flecked with perrons, fist-sized pebbles of flint. Purchased in 1957, the steep, rocky, eight-hectare vineyard lies on Vouvray’s esteemed Première Côte, part of a bank of limestone-rich hillside vineyards overlooking Tours. This block's argilo-siliceux soils (stony, with green, mineral clays and flint over limestone) provide the tight structure and pungent minerality Le Mont is renowned for. With less clay (and a different type of clay) and more stone than Le Haut-Lieu, this site typically produces the nerviest wines in the Huet stable, so this vineyard mainly produces dry and off-dry whites.When young, these dry wines are pent-up, intense, mineral (chalky and/or smoky-fresh) whites that are wonderfully pure and racy. With age, the top examples mature at a snail’s pace to become some of the most intriguing dry whites on the planet. They go from the white flowers, citrus pith and crunchy fruit of youth to something deliciously honeyed, buttery, savoury and autumnal. The younger examples are go-to wines for anything involving seafood or white meat. For the technically minded, Huet’s secs have between 4 and 8 g/L residual sugar depending on the vintage, although the 2022 and 2023 wines dipped closer to the 3 g/L mark.

"The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Mont is precise, upright and flinty. It's less immediately charming than the styles we've seen in recent warmer vintages, but it was only tasted three weeks after bottling - this is one to revisit. There's just the right amount of juicy, peachy flesh within this light-bodied yet concentrated wine. It has the potential to charm but does so without showing off. Flinty and tightly sewn together, it has curves in the right places, but you're just going to have to wait for it to take shape."
95 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“One of the great dry white wines of the Loire. This dry chenin blanc is rich and concentrated, but also graceful and delicate. Full-bodied but so elegant and precise, with a wet stone minerality that builds in a spectacular manner in the very long, refined finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.”
96 points, Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2023
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux 2022 (375ml)

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux 2022 (375ml)

Recognised since the 15th century as being one of the most distinguished sites in the appellation, Le Mont was also known locally as Perruches, a local name for the greenish-tinged clay soils flecked with perrons, fist-sized pebbles of flint. Purchased in 1957, the steep, rocky, eight-hectare vineyard lies on Vouvray’s esteemed Première Côte, part of a bank of limestone-rich hillside vineyards overlooking Tours. This block's argilo-siliceux soils (stony, with green, mineral clays and flint over limestone) provide the tight structure and pungent minerality Le Mont is renowned for. With less clay (and a different type of clay) and more stone than Le Haut-Lieu, this site typically produces the nerviest wines in the Huet stable, so this vineyard mainly produces dry and off-dry whites.Huet’s succulent moelleux wines (moelleux translates to ‘marrow-like’ and is pronounced ‘mweh-luh’) typically have between 40 and 60 g/L residual sugar. They are made mainly from grapes that have dried on the vine (passerillage) rather than those affected by botrytis. Huet’s moelleux wines can be remarkably fine and delicate—think of a great Mosel rather than a Sauternes for an idea of weight—and pair brilliantly with cheeses and a range of savoury meat dishes (only wines from the richest years work with fruit-based desserts).Occasionally, in the top years, the sweeter première trie level is made from a berry-by-berry selection of the very ripest (often botrytis-affected) grapes. The balance is dumbfounding, and these mouthwatering, racy, transparent wines represent some of the greatest whites of France. The première trie wines can also work with desserts—but nothing too sweet (they’re better with cheeses).

“The 2022 Le Mont Moelleux is a medium-sweet, tender style that is just so welcoming and appealing. It is the quiet type that doesn't show off. It offers breadth without weight, which I always like about the Huet wines - they're like clouds of Chenin floating over your palate. A fine floral and fruity fragrance reminiscent of lilac, pear and pineapple lingers off the tranquil finish. While the acidity in 2022 is a little gentle, it still has enough tension to sweep up the wine and hold it all together. A little more length and line would elevate it further. (51g/L RS, in case you're interested).”
94 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux 2022 (375ml)
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec 2022

Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec 2022

Perched on the Première Côte just above the town of Vouvray, Clos du Bourg is a monopole and generally regarded as the greatest of the three Huet single vineyards. The domaine has farmed it since 1953 and purchased it in 1963. Clos du Bourg is arguably the greatest vineyard in the region, producing some of the most powerful, thrilling, long-lived white wines in Europe. With only one metre of topsoil over solid limestone, the vines tap almost immediately into the mineral resources underneath. The warmth of the site, combined with the mineral complexion of the soils, results in rich, super long-lived wines that seem to effortlessly combine intense minerality with generous texture and concentration.Huet’s demi-secs typically fall between 18 and 25 g/L residual sugar (give or take a few grams), but the acidity makes the wines appear only just off-dry. These wines manage finesse and diamond-cut clarity, yet they are somehow open and welcoming at the same time. At the table, these wines pair beautifully with the spices of many Asian cuisines but are also brilliant with French or modern Australian cooking (from seafood through game and white meats to cheese).

“The 2022 Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec is round and appealing, akin to a cozy night in with your slippers on; there's flesh and succulence, but it retains its shape and a sense of lightness on its feet. The ripeness of white stone fruit reminds me of nectarine and a heady floral character reminiscent of honeysuckle, even verging jasmine. And yet, it shows its pedigree in its fine texture and line. (RS 17.5g/L).”
94 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec 2022
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2022

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2022

Le Haut-Lieu was the estate’s first vineyard, purchased in 1928. Situated on the Première Côte, it’s a 9-hectare plot on deep brown chalky clay (known as aubuis). Here the yellow limestone (tuffeau) bedrock lies up to four metres down, making for a richer soil that produces round, supple wines that can drink very well young. It generally produces the earliest maturing of the three cuvées and is usually ready to drink first, but, like Clos du Bourg and Le Mont, the wines can be extremely long-lived. We have enjoyed bottles from the ’40s that are still drinking very well!

“The 2022 Le Haut-Lieu Sec is a lithe, reductive style with floral character and talcum powder. Full of phenolic, lip-smacking texture woven through its core, lending a sense of satisfying grunt to this dry yet balanced style. Clarity, precision and harmony are keywords in this wine's execution. A little more fleeting on the finish than ideal. (5.5g/L).”
92 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2022
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec 2023

Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec 2023

Perched on the Première Côte just above the town of Vouvray, Clos du Bourg is a monopole and generally regarded as the greatest of the three Huet single vineyards. The domaine has farmed it since 1953 and purchased it in 1963. Clos du Bourg is arguably the greatest vineyard in the region, producing some of the most powerful, thrilling, long-lived white wines in Europe. With only one metre of topsoil over solid limestone, the vines tap almost immediately into the mineral resources underneath. The warmth of the site, combined with the mineral complexion of the soils, results in rich, super long-lived wines that seem to effortlessly combine intense minerality with generous texture and concentration.When young, these dry wines are pent-up, intense, mineral (chalky and/or smoky-fresh) whites that are wonderfully pure and racy. With age, the top examples mature at a snail’s pace to become some of the most intriguing dry whites on the planet. They go from the white flowers, citrus pith and crunchy fruit of youth to something deliciously honeyed, buttery, savoury and autumnal. The younger examples are go-to wines for anything involving seafood or white meat. For the technically minded, Huet’s secs have between 4 and 8 g/L residual sugar depending on the vintage, although the 2022 and 2023 wines dipped closer to the 3 g/L mark.

“The aromas of floral honey, cashew nuts and butter are married to a brioche character reminiscent of good Champagne, but this is completely still. On the medium-bodied palate, the interplay of honeyed creaminess and elegant acidity is enchanting, the wine gliding over your palate. Long, supple finish.”
93 points, Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec 2023
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2023

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2023

Le Haut Lieu was the estate’s first vineyard, purchased in 1928, and is situated on the Première Côte. As the name suggests, the house and the vineyards are located on a plateau with a slight south-facing gradient at one of the highest points of the appellation. It’s a nine-hectare plot on deep, brown, chalky clay (known as aubuis). Here, the yellow limestone (tuffeau) bedrock lies up to four metres down, making for a richer soil that produces round, supple wines that tend to drink well young. It generally produces the earliest maturing of the three cuvées and the first ready for drinking, but, like Clos du Bourg and Le Mont, the wines can be extremely long-lived. We have enjoyed bottles from the ’40s that are still drinking very well!When young, these dry wines are pent-up, intense, mineral (chalky and/or smoky-fresh) whites that are wonderfully pure and racy. With age, the top examples mature at a snail’s pace to become some of the most intriguing dry whites on the planet. They go from the white flowers, citrus pith and crunchy fruit of youth to something deliciously honeyed, buttery, savoury and autumnal. The younger examples are go-to wines for anything involving seafood or white meat. For the technically minded, Huet’s secs have between 4 and 8 g/L residual sugar depending on the vintage, although the 2022 and 2023 wines dipped closer to the 3 g/L mark.

"The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu is a pure, refined, seamless style with pear, pineapple and nectarine flavors. It boasts excellent clarity and refinement, with lovely freshness hailing from calibrated acidity that bursts through this blossoming wine. Considering this was only bottled three weeks before tasting, I'm very encouraged by the results."
93 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“This stunning dry Vouvray has such an exciting energy on the simultaneously focused and creamy medium-bodied palate. I love the juicy core, then the way the wet stone character builds to an impressive intensity in the long, precise finish. Still really youthful and with great aging potential.”
94 points, Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2023
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AT-A-GLANCE

• Domaine Huet is a historical Loire domaine with roots in the Vouvray region going back to the 17th century.

• It is owned and operated by the Hwang family, with winemaking duties in the hands of Benjamin Joliveau, who has been at the domaine since 2009.

• Three sites form the heart of the estate: Le Haut Lieu, Le Mont and Clos du Bourg. These are considered Vouvray’s best sites, and Huet’s wines are held in similar regard.

• The estate covers approximately 35 hectares of up to 50+-year-old, low-yielding, biodynamically farmed vines grown in limestone tuffeau soils.

• Vinification incorporates steel tank and old wood, no malolactic conversion, and early bottling to preserve freshness.

• The range includes up to four styles: Sec, Demi-Sec, Moelleux and, in exceptional years, Moelleux 1er Trie or Cuvée Constance, as well as sparkling wines.

• Many wines are available in 375ml and 500ml, and occasionally we receive allocations of museum wines from the domaine.



IN THE PRESS

“The biodynamic Huet estate comprises three key terroirs with clearly identifiable personalities  … it is justly regarded as the leading property in the Vouvray region.” Clive Coates MW, The Great Wines of France

“No matter what the vintage or the wine style (including sparkling), the quality [chez Domaine Huet] is always extraordinary and clearly reflects the excellence of their terroirs. The chiseled, contoured mouthfeel and precise minerality are unique in the Loire.” La Revue du Vin de France

“No matter what the vintage or the wine style (including sparkling), the quality [chez Domaine Huet] is always extraordinary and clearly reflects the excellence of their terroirs. The chiseled, contoured mouthfeel and precise minerality are unique in the Loire.” Guide Vert, La Revue du Vin de France

“‘Domaine Huet’ means ‘I make the best damn Chenin Blanc on the planet’ ...” Mike Steinberger

"No matter the site or the sweetness level, there is an ethereal and elegant quality to these wines that defies scientific analysis" Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous

Country

France

Primary Region

Touraine, Loire Valley

People

Winemaker: Benjamin Joliveau

Availability

National

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