From Vouvray’s and arguably the Loire’s most famous producer, Domaine Huet, comes the Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec 2023. This 100% Chenin Blanc captures the region’s off-dry signature style perfectly.
Huet’s vineyards, Le Haut-Lieu, Clos du Bourg and Le Mont, lie on Vouvray’s Première Côte, the first slope – essentially Grand Cru equivalents. Le Mont, 6 hectares acquired in 1957, is known for its exceptional finesse, minerality and light grippy texture. Vinous praised the 2023 Le Mont Demi-Sec’s ‘tenderness, ‘precision and tension’ with a ‘flint component’ and ‘natural freshness,’ which all add to the ‘long finish’. The light sweetness in the wine is reminiscent of the soft, airy centre of fresh meringue and it shows notes of chalk dust, beeswax, and river pebble layered with grapefruit, white tea, green apple, and quince.
This wine does great with some air exposure while young, so let it breathe for an hour or two before drinking – and remember to keep a few bottles tucked away to taste in years to come. One of my highlights from last year was a Le Mont Demi-Sec 2002 vintage from this estate.
Huet’s 2023 Le Mont Demi-Sec blends powerful flavour intensity with a brilliant sense of delicacy, weightlessness and nuance, making it endlessly versatile. It can stand up to dishes like mushroom risotto, sips perfectly on a summer’s day next to salty seafood tapas dishes, and performs astonishingly well as a chilled aperitif. As wines with a touch of residual sugar (about 20g/l), great natural acidity and slight phenolic grip do, this will easily last and improve over the next two decades. It is a Chenin Blanc that deserves to be in everybody’s glasses, wine fridges and cellars.
Other food pairings recommended by the estate for this wine: ‘aperitif; pork ribeye marinated in rum and honey; smoked eel, apple and hazelnut salad and toasted butter sauce; guava and lemongrass panna cotta’.
Domaine Huet was founded in the Loire village of Vouvray in 1928. A pioneer of biodynamic viticulture, they craft only Chenin Blanc, in multiple styles depending on vintage conditions – and the quality is consistently outstanding across the range.
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Tasting Notes:
‘The 2023 Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont boasts a residual sweetness (20g/l) that brings a sense of tenderness and amplitude to a terroir that’s big on precision and tension. The flint component in the soil and the natural freshness of the 2023 vintage provide persistence and momentum. Pure and tender, there’s a distinctive spearmint-like cooling sensation on the long finish. 2024-2038’ – Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, 94/100
‘For a demi-sec, this leans toward the dry, savory end of the spectrum. There are a lot of layers and substance to this, with a savory thread of green herbs and bitter white tea weaving through elderflower, quince and apple flavors, while gentle tannins provide a solid frame. Cool river stone and pink peppercorn notes line the finish, encased in smoke and salt, with length and a lot of depth. The toasty cedar notes will integrate with more time in bottle. Drink now through 2037.’ – Kristen Bieler, Wine Spectator, 93/100
