Domaine Huet - Vouvray Sec Haut-Lieu 2021 (750ml)
Price: $45.00
Sale Price: $33.75
#83 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2022
| Producer | Domaine Huet |
| Country | France |
| Region | Loire |
| Varietal | Chenin Blanc |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Sku | 1470582 |
| Size | 750ml |
Vinous: 94 Points
This is a very fine fragrant and floral Le Haut Lieu Sec. While delicate the 2021 fills the mouth with a cloud of pure fruit reminiscent of violets apple and nectarine skin. There's a fine sinew that pulls the wine through on the finish. It can be approached in its youth but will go on and on. - By Rebecca Gibb MW on June 2022 Domaine Huet perhaps Vouvray's most famous name was founded almost a century ago. An early adopter of biodynamics it was certified in 1993 when even organic producers were considered to be hippies. Today Domaine Huet is run by Sarah Hwang whose family bought the estate in 2003. Production of wine styles (from dry to sweet) varies depending on the season and the seasons are becoming more erratic every year. In 2018 around 85% of production was sweet and they were able to make the rare sweet cuvée Constance. The original vineyard Le Haut Lieu is a clay-based vineyard which was first purchased in 1928 by founder Gaston Huet. It now covers 15 hectares and remains the most fruit-forward of the estate’s sites. The addition of Clos du Bourg came in 1953. It’s a real clos surrounded by walls and is a little warmer than the other sites making it the first of the Huet vineyards to be picked. Conversely the Le Mont vineyard which was acquired in 1957 has a greenish yellow clay soil with flint scattered throughout making it a cooler site; it is picked the latest and takes time to express itself fully in the glass. No matter the site or the sweetness level there is an ethereal and elegant quality to these wines that defie
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vWine Advocate: 93 Points
The 2021 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec offers a clear and intense bouquet of ripe and concentrated fruits with chalky and sur lie aromas. Pure linear and fresh on the palate this is a lean yet tensioned and thrilling enormously saline Vouvray Sec that is as pure and fresh as rarely before. Almost ascetic but full of thrills and tension the 2021 shows all the features of a classic cool vintage and indicates excellent aging capacity. The tannins are chalky and interwoven with the saline and crystalline acidity. There's not much texture here at this early stage but this will develop with bottle age. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in March 2023. Only three wines have been produced from the 2021 vintage at Domaine Huet all dry. The trio is accompanied by the 2017 Pétillant Brut (which I didn't taste though) and the noble sweet 2018 Cuvée Constance about which I will report next week in context with other vintages (2016 2015 and 2009). Huet has also re-released the 2008 Le Mont Demi-Sec. From the German importer Vinatural I also received older vintages of diverse categories so all of the following notes were written in the last week of March this year. 2021 wasn't easy and in the end Allan made dry Vouvrays only. Severe frosts in the first week of April set a first warning after a very early spring that had already started in January. However the vines were able to resist and preserve some of their future bunches. April May and June brought rainy episodes and the vines that had suffered from frost were particularly receptive to attacks by mildew according to the vintage report. In June the vines "grew at a frenetic pace. Under an ever-intense pressure of mildew attention and responsiveness were of utmost importance." The sun alternated with the rain throughout July and at the beginning of August temperatures cooled below seasonal norms slowing down the maturity of the future harvest. Under these conditions the acidity was preserved and the sugar levels rose slowly shaping the contours of a quintessential dry vintage.
Wine Spectator: 91 Points
An elegant white with beautiful fruit purity, featuring freshly juiced apple, fleshy lychee and baking spice notes that build in intensity on the palate. Shows salty acidity that's nicely set against a buttercream note, with salted caramel marking the crackling finish. Drink now through 2025. 2,650 cases made.
