Definitely Vouvray’s and arguably the Loire’s most loved producer, Domaine Huet is back with their newly released Chenins from the 2023 vintage. Get stuck into the various styles from their three famous vineyards, all of which are Grand Cru equivalents: Le Haut-Lieu, Clos du Bourg and Le Mont.
Although it was a challenging vintage for the Loire in general, a meticulous approach to sorting worked wonders and their brilliant 2023s have defied the odds.
Planted on deep brown clay over limestone, the 2023 Sec from Huet’s original vineyard, Le Haut-Lieu, is as vivacious and pure as when I tasted it with their team last year in Vouvray. Quince and pear abound, with some spice and earth and a brilliant undercurrent of acidity. The driven, chalky finish shows dill and mint with a citrus spritz
Clos du Bourg is one of the oldest vineyards in Vouvray. Warmer than the other two sites, the soil here is rocky and shallow, with the brown clay giving way to a bedrock of limestone. The 2023 Clos du Bourg Sec is deep, aromatic and focused with a salty density. ‘The concentration, and the classic amplitude and curves are there with a super line and frame,’ says Vinous.
Le Mont is the coolest and stoniest of their vineyards, and the clay is of a green hue with lots of silex (flinty stones). The 2023 Le Mont Sec is tightly coiled at the moment. It’s ‘precise, upright and flinty’ (Wine Spectator) with apple blossom, lush white peach and nectarines, and ‘has the potential to charm but does so without showing off’. The more you swirl and taste it, the more the wine opens up and the layers upon layers of fruit, florals, stone and chalk become apparent.
Founded almost a century ago and farmed biodynamically, Huet’s vineyards lie on Vouvray’s Première Côte (first slope). Only seven styles could be made this vintage, namely Sec from all three sites, as well as both Demi-Sec and Moelleux from Clos du Bourg and Le Mont. View their full selection here.
Tasting Notes:
‘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. From biodynamically grown grapes.’ – James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, 94/100
‘Domaine Huët’s 2023 Clos du Bourg Sec bottling is also excellent. The wine is deep, complex and beautifully focused on the nose, wafting from the glass in a mix of quince, apple, a touch of pink grapefruit, complex, chalky soil tones, lanolin, beeswax and a topnote of gently musky white flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and shows a bit more mid-palate weight than the Le Haut Lieu and Le Mont Sec bottlings in 2023, with sound acids, excellent balance and grip and fine lift on the long and complex finish. It will not be criminal to open a bottle or two of the Clos du Bourg Sec 2023 in its early days, but if one buys a case, make sure to tuck at least nine of the bottles away for the long haul.’ – John Gilman, View From The Cellar, 94/100
‘The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Mont is certainly one of the highlights of the range in the 2023 vintage and offers spectacular precision and focus. In the glass, it pours a reflective straw/silver color and is more coiled, leading with a bit of flinty reduction before revealing notes of lime leaf, green apples, white flowers, and honey. On the palate, it has more linear drive, but that’s matched by compact density, crystalline purity, and a fantastic long and mouthwatering finish. A superb wine, it’s going to benefit from another few years in cellar.’ – Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com, 96/100
