Loire Odyssey, Part V - I did it my Huët

After a break for a Zind-Humbrecht dinner, the gang reconvene for Part 5 of our journey down the Loire. This time round, we all were supposed to bring one (or more) Huët Vouvray(s) from our cellar for a little BYO, email Vincent (the maitre'd) in Absinthe what we were bringing, and then leave it to him and Francois (the chef) to work out our menu. After two tries with Chenin only dinners with other chefs that did not quite work perfectly in terms of pairing, we knew that this would be qutie a test for any restaurant. It turned out to be an amazing success. The wines were predictably good, even better than expected I thought, but the pairings were magnificent, some of them providing real moments of transcendency. To top it all, the theme song for the night started playing just as we worked over way through some Foie Gras with the stupendous 2002 Le Mont. Kismet.

• 1969 Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant Sec 94 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant

  Third time out with this great wine, and this was probably the best bottle. I did not like it all that much when we started out - I thought it was a bit thin and metallic - but boy did it opened up in the glass through the night, unfolding into a beautiful wine, with the last few sipa being quite magical. Orange-amber, almost rose coloured, it had a complex, intriguing nose, starting out with a metallic, seashelly twang to it and then opening up into earthy forest floor notes and rich apple cider aromas with a nice waft of honey and over-ripe stone fruit alongside. With time, I noticed an interesting drift of salty pistachio nut scents at the edges as well. Lots going on there. There were still tiny bubbles on the palate, but at its age, this was far from effervescent - more like a gentle mousse that kept the wine lively in spite of its fleshy, off-dry flavours of dried apricot flavours and sweet apples. These were met on the midpalate by bit of lanolin, some oyster shell and toasted nuts, little complex nuances here, before a slight lift of citrus lemon and lime zest took over at the finish. Very yummy. I thought it was a bit thinned-out at the back-palate at first, where the wine showed a rather hollow metallic ring. However, it fleshed out so very nicely after an hour or so, opening up with beautiful flavours of orange blossoms, honey and stone fruit. Such a lovely wine. Fresher and more complex than the last couple of bottles we had and absolutely delectable - this was one of my favourites of the evening yet again.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1996 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont 93 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Excellent. The driest of the wines we had, this was a ncie little pairing with some scallop carpaccio. It was all very seashell, flint and limestoney on the nose, with strong twist of citrus lime racing alonside. It could almost have been a Chablis on that bouquet if not for a whiff of freshly laundered sheets and some fleshy pears that came in at the rear, along with a honeyed note crept out over time. Nice stuff though. The palate took on some of those Chablis-like character that nose had as well, with a lovely lime and lemony attack buttresed by a savoury, earthy, chalky undertone on the midpalate, with a ton of lanolin flavours pulling alongside. It was completely dry, with lovely weight and depth anchored by bright citrussy acidity. There was a lovely minerally structure to it as well. With time, hints of white-fruited pear emerged on the back-palate and some flowery notes drifted out to mingle with the fruit just before the wine danced off into a long, stony minerally finish with a nutty lilt at the edges. When paired with the scallops, a very seashelly, metally note came out that a few of us really enjoyed - I must say not everyone was absolutely convinced about the pairing though. Nevertheless, this was a very compelling wine. Still really youthful in feel, but already full of complex, mouthfilling flavours. I am not sure just how long this will take before it reaches peek - it seems quite indestructible at the moment - but I am quite sure it will be a superb wine when it does. It would be nice to try this again in 5 years' time to take a reading.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Mont 95 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  The youngest wine of the night, and I thought the best. This was pretty special stuff. It had an amazing nose, going off like fireworks in the glass, with an explosion of honeyed aromas and ripe red apples, flint and smoke, white meat and earth, and lifted accents of freshly mown grass with touches of lanolin and a hint of spice. Beguiling stuff, expressive, yet with a mellow gentleness to the way it came together in beautifully integrated whole. The same could be said about the palate. Soft, melting, luxurious, it glided across the mouth with golden honeyed tones and pure flavours of ripe red apples, fresh apricots and sweet lemons ,edged with a touch of burnt creme brulee and butterscotch at the fringes. Absolutely complex and delicious. It was so very creamy and velvety, yet was at the same time lifted by a beautifully integrated stream of acidity that kept the wine incredibly pure and perfectly balanced. A profound wine, complex yet effortless, deep yet weightless, mature yet ageless, and all underlined by a tremendous minerality that gave the it a great sense of defintion. A very complete wine. Good when first poured from the decanter, this just grew and grew in the glass too, opening up in generously fleshy white fruit flavours across the mid and back-palate. To top it all off, it was a mindblowing pairing with a simple but perfectly executed dish of foie gras and white truffles on toast over a bed of caramelised onions. Something just clicked as the savoury food and the honeyed fruit of the wine came together - the heavens opened, angels sang, and we fell into a blissful silence. One of the best pairings I have ever had. Great food, brilliant wine. Wow. It was such a moment that it almost made be give up my notes and quite forget that the wine is actually very, very young. It was drinking beautifully now, but like so many of these Huëts, it is probably indestructible and will last for decades more.

  Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1985 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg 94 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  An outstanding wine. I actually preferred this to the 1ère Trie from the same vintage that we had several months back. This had a beautiful nose, one of the prettiest of the evening, with gentle aromas of barley sugars, white fruit and lemon sherbert laid over a bed of lanolin, chalk and flinty minerality with slightly umami-notes of white mushrooms and hard cheeses drifting around the sides of the bouquet. With time, a very delicate lilt of perfumy white flowers, maybe osmanthus, started floating out of the glass. Wonderful. The palate was absolutely delicious too. Far less sugary than a 1989 Moelleux that came later, but still gently sweet - think Mosel Spatlese level - it had delectable flavours of ripe pears and melons and a little lemony twist, all laced with lovely bright acidity. Beautifully defined, lithe, graceful and supple, this was full of tensile acidity yet had no lack of depth or presence - really beautiful, like an sinuous ballet dancer in an elegant sonata. To cap it all, there was a lovely waft of orange blossoms and tangerines on the midpalate, just before the superb finish set in. Silky, gentle, yet with great length, it caressed the back-palate with a velvety mouthful of sweet cream and white fruit lined with a little glide of minerality that just went on and on and on. Wow. So very lovely, and made even better by an inspired pairing with aged-Comte, basil and lemon-zest raviolo cooked in a light mushroomy broth. This was at a beautiful place on the night.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1957 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Clos du Bourg 92 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  The oldest wine on the night. Not quite as good as some of its younger siblings on show, but still a really nice drop. It had a ridiculously good nose, full of freshly laundered sheets and wet wool aromas, a bit of caramel and spice, honeyed pears and red apples, with hints of tropical lychee, some lovely floral scents and just that strange suggestion of roasted green pepper at the very edges of bouquet. Wow. The palate was a bit reductive even after some time in the decanter, with a struck match note that came to the fore. However, it opened up nicely with a fresh burst of bright, citrus acidity and really pure flavours of lemons and Granny Smith apples. The acidity was so bright that the wine seemed a bit light at first as it rode upon a streal of citrussy notes, but that was an illusion - there was certainly a nice sense of depth and presence to the to this, with an undercurrant of fleshier white fruit wed to lanolin and earthy mineral notes stretching into a deliciously fresh finish. Lovely stuff. Still completely alive, if just perhaps lacking a bit of complexity and strength of conviction. I must say that it was a fantastic pairing with a veal dish in an Oloroso sauce though, which brought out a complementary savoury, white meat echo in the wine. However, in this case, it was the dish that propelled the wine to a higher level rather than the other way around. It is almost impossible to say with a wine of this age, but on this showing as compared to a bottle we had three years back, I would say that it has deproved rather than improved. It could well be bottle variation rather than it being past its prime however. Whatever the case, this was still very nice indeed.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1981 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont 91 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  This was pretty good, but nowhere near the level of most of the other Huëts on show. It was probably one of the weakest wines on the night next to a possibly flawed 1973 Le Mont. There was a very freshly fruited nose here, with green apples and pears, orange blossoms, nectar and lanolin, with a fresh lift of freshly mown grass. Pretty nice. It smelt slightly sweet, but the palate wad actually very dry, with bright, racy acidity zipping through pure, lifted flavours of green apples and fresh pears touced by a little hint of savoury fig skin and some lemon zest notes. There was lots of life and energy on this wine, with a lovely lick of limestony minerality lending a nicely chiselled aspect to the otherwise fleshy flavours of pear fruit at the long finish. I found this pretty good overall, but neither quite as fine nor as complex than the previous wines. About to time to drink up I think. On the night, it made a decent if unspectacular pairing with goats cheese with slices of pear.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg 94 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Beautiful stuff, but still young. This was the sweetest wine of the lot, sweeter surprisingly than even the 1990 Le Haut Lieu 1ère Trie that followed it. It an incredible colour, a deep amber colour, almost like an Armagnac or Oolong tea. One sniff and rich, layered aromas just tumbled out of the glass - orange marmalade and dried apricots, burnt caramel and fresh cream, toasty earth and mineral accents, a whiff of fresh sheets - what a nose! Unfortunately, I thought the palate was not quite as good, showing a bit less development and certainly a bit less complexity. However, it did slowly open with time, so that the gap between bouquet and taste was not that far by the end of the evening. Here, there were rich layers of honey and burnt sugar and caramel, figs and dried apricots, all underlined by a bit of mineral. There were hints of lemongrass in there somewhere as well. Still primary, still sweet, but also lifted by some beautifully mouthwatering acidity. It had a lovely finish to end off, with sweet sultanas, floating wafts of toasty toffee and caramel, and a suggestion of Pu-Er tea drifting away into the distance. This was really, really nice, but not quite a truly great wine yet. While already pretty well integrated, it was just a bit too primary for that at the moment. While it went very well with the dessert given the sugars and acidity, I think it still has a long way to go. This is one that should be kept aside for at least 5 years before broaching again, and will probably need a decade or more to hit peak.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1990 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Haut-Lieu 93 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  The second of a duo of truly sweet, amber-hued wines. I had clean forgotten having had this about 3 years back. This was excellent, as good as the last bottle we had, but on the other hand, it seems to have developed at a glacial pace, so that while more opened, it was not noticeably all that much better either. The nose was really nice here, with savoury notes of white meat, brine and slightly oxidative apples, along with some malt honey, a nice dose of chalk and some rosemary and thyme aromas at the side - it smelt suspiciously like a fine, aged Champagne on that note. With time though, more clearly Chenin notes of lanolin and a touch of ice-cream soda started floating out as well. Very attractive. The palate was marked by some lovely, fresh acidity that blessed the wine with a wonderful sense of balance and pure clairty to its delicious flavours of fresh red apples and ripe lemons. I thought it lacked some of the tremendous depth and complexity of some of the other Moelleux wines on the night, but boy, the balance was pitch perfect. There was lovely freshness on the finish too, with bright citrus notes racing through a bit of warm toasted spice, honey and brown sugar notes. Very yummy, but like the 1989 Clos du Bourg we had alongside, this needs a lot of time yet. I said five years more the last time round, but on this showing, this is one easily needs a decade more to peak.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1973 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Mont Flawed

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  We were wondering whether there was some sort of flaw on this. It smelt a bit dirty, a bit murky, with a twang of wet dishrags and insecticide layered over deeper notes of lanolin and apples. A bit nasty smelling actually. The palate was okay though, with lots of mineral and lanolin forming a serious base for pure apple flavours. It had a decent finish with a nutty tail as well, all nicely balanced and structured, with well-integrated acidity rounding off the wine nicely. Did not taste spoilt, but it was certainly the most reserved wine. Not bad on the palate though. However, in an abundnace of caution, I would mark this as flawed rather than to score it down.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue