More Vouvray with lunch including two Huet I hadn't had before.

David Goldfarb generously hosted another of his lovely Vouvray-themed lunches last week. How can you beat a bevy of Vouvray in the afternoon? It was a meeting of two groups as in addition to a couple of David's regular lunch attendees, he allowed me to bring two of my Vouvray posse, so with Joe Dougherty and Don Rice at my side, a lovely Vouvray-filled afternoon was had by all.

• 1975 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  My first time with a '75 from Huet and it's nicely old school, from its label to its style. It was a rough vintage, but this is a most compelling wine. It shows like a cross between the '71 in its acidity and a fresher '69 in its oxidative profile. Lots of phenolic character and Joe suggests that they were pressing the grapes harder then and that certainly makes sense. The nose is beautifully honeyed and shows peanut skins, baked apples, dried apricots ad light vegetal/rot notes, but that were not unpleasant. On the palate its quite dry, seemingly drier than most of today's Sec wines, but there's a nice viscous quality without the sweetness. A little oxidative, but it freshened up in the glass. Botrytis, honey, apples, mineral and raw peanuts show with just a touch of rot on the finish. Loads of personality here and quite a treat to try. A-/B+.

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• 1980 Domaine Huet Vouvray Vin De Glace Sec Le Haut-Lieu

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  A similar showing to the last bottle I had. Beautifully aromatic and high acid, bordering on too severe for some, with a rich glycerol feel and full of quince, yellow citrus, mineral and a hint of red berry fruit. The more I try it, the more it reminds of the drier bottling of '96 Cour Cheverny from Cazin, though that wine still shows a bit more residual than this one. Lovely and it worked beautifully with the smoked trout it was served with, but sec ice wine is not for the faint of heart. A-/B+.

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• 2008 Le Clos de la Meslerie Vouvray

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  This was paired with the '08 Foreau- Demi-Sec and '08 Huet- Demi-Sec Le Mont and made for a fascinating lineup. This is the newcomer on the block and while a lovely wine, was outclassed in this grouping. It was the sweetest wine of the group and showed a more tropical edge to the fruit than the others, but also shows a light oxidative character to it. It was posited that maybe this was deliberate as a number of the newer wine makers in the region seem to be doing the same thing. It actually reminds me a bit of Mark Angeli's La Lune bottling with that oxidative note and overall profile. Decent acids with ripe apricots and quince paste. Priced a bit aggressively given that you can get the best of the region for less, but production here is tiny. B+.

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• 2008 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  It's nice to catch up on this one as it's been a couple of years since I last had it. Rather surprisingly, this was fairly shut down whereas the Foreau was still open and approachable. Normally it's the other way around by age five. There's terrific yellow fruit and chalky mineral here in an off dry package, though the fruit has moved more into the background and the acidic structure is more pronounced. Still provides lots of pleasure, but I'm going to let mine sleep now. Brilliant wine. A.

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• 2008 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Surprisingly, this is still pretty open and seems downright flamboyant in comparison to Huet, though it's true to form in that it has a more minerally profile than the Huet and is a little less sweet. Showing pretty typically with it's quince, ginger, floral and mineral character, though this bottle shows a bit more of a crisp apple note. Vivid structure and revealing wonderful depth and intensity. A.

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• 2003 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  My first try of this and it's rather disappointing. It really shows the effects of the torrid heat that year as this is essentially honeyed apricot preserves with a little bit of botrytis character. There's no real minerality showing, something I would've never imagined possible from here. It's intensely sweet and suffers greatly from it's relative low acidity. In fact, this just may be the flabbiest wine I've ever had from the domaine. It's tasty, but this is not at all what I'd expect from them. Solid B+.

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Some pictures from the lunch.

The lineup.


A very cool 1942 French vigneron phone book Don brought for show and tell, opened to some Vouvray producers.


The Commander of Vouvray looks up some vigneron.