Huet-A-Thon (Bay Area Edition): Crisp and tense with a delicate mousse and notes of apple and citrus on the nose with a firm mineral spine on the palate. Very enjoyable and gluggable.
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Fairly reticent nose of lemon peel, hay, white pepper, papaya, and faint sweet vanilla. Nearly full bodied, the acid is thick and just starting to soften.The mousse is fine and delicate; this is not the most spritzy of bubblers. The balance is good. Flavors include loads of lemon, lime, and flint. There's also a bit of orange and cardamom. This is good, though not my favorite vintage. I've had some that need a decade or more aging and this isn't one. I think it's probably best before 2028.
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Starts a touch tart and restrained. Turns to mead on the nose with freshly sliced green apples. Mouth is more restrained than the nose, though still expressive: peach, apricot skin, under-ripe plum, some spice. It’s nice.
3.6/5
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Day 1 - Sparkling Chenin in an old-school-Chablis-esque format. Bubbles are calm/muted looking in the glass but vibrant and semi-delicate in the mouth. The nose is subtly appley/peachy/lemony, and massively chalky and burnt-candle-like. Palate is bone-dry with burning acidity, with moderately honeyed (but still dry) finish, the leanness almost reminds of sparkling hard mineral water (interestingly I didn’t feel the residual sugar other people were talking about). It’s certainly an acquired taste, austere but would be excellent if food pairing is right. 89-90.
Day 2 - with reduced bubbles, feels more supple with layers of ginger and apple cider. Now I can detect some residual sugar, and malty bitterness. Overall assessment did not change.
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Divino Wine Tasting Party (Foveaux Street, Surry Hills): slightly sharp lemons, a little butter (?), muted sweet spice and chalky minerality in support as well as a little bees wax and honey. Juicy, tangy, honey, fleshy mousse, lemon, bread yeast, slight butter. crikey this is nice!
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Disgorged in October 2020 following 36 months on lees. It has just over 1g/L residual sugar (the wine is dosed with the 2017 Le Haut-Lieu Demi-Sec) Bottled at a low-pressure of 2.5/3 atmospheres (most Champagnes are between five and six), this wine has a more delicate fizz than most. The fruit is all estate-grown (certified biodynamic) and comes from the youngest vines. Crafted in a hybrid méthode ancestrale style (only natural sugar in the must was used for the second fermentation). Floral on the nose. Citrus on the palate.
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A survey of Domaine Huet (Chicago, IL): Champagne it is not, but it definitely is made very well, with a bead that wouldn't be out of place there. A slight bitterness with maybe even a moderate wooliness gives away the different nature of this wine. Electric, bright, and zippy, but some sharp angles on the finish detract from the overall cohesion of this. For the money, quite a nice value.
Beautiful golden color reminiscent of Huet’s still Vouvray. Dry with a lovely, crispy acidic attack. Just lightly sparkling (as is with petillant), with aromas of toast and pear, and a very red apple/biscuity flavor profile. Very lean, but lacking concentration.
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This was a nice, clean, correct Loire cremante (petillant). Crisp, dry, palate-cleansing. Not deep, initially quite simple, but gaining mild complexity over the space of two or three days, as the wine aerates (notwithstanding the dissipating fizziness).
I have fond memories of the 2002 petillant (not the reserve), but didn't really love it until it was ten years older and beyond, when the wine became suffused with deliciously sour oxidative notes, albeit the carbonation was more legacy than active. Not sure why Chenin wines can age in this particular way sometimes (I've had truly great, old, oxidized Savenières) and not others (multiple bottles of flat, dead 2012 Huet Clos de Bourg sec). Anyway, not sure I have the courage to invest in enough of this to hold for ten years; there were special reasons in 2002.
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4/20/2024 - ylkim30 Likes this wine:
Huet-A-Thon (Bay Area Edition): Crisp and tense with a delicate mousse and notes of apple and citrus on the nose with a firm mineral spine on the palate. Very enjoyable and gluggable.
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3/18/2024 - vinum bonum wrote: 89 Points
Pas mal, une bulle très fine, un pétillant sur la délicatesse, très joli.
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3/13/2024 - goodvitis.com Likes this wine: 91 Points
Fairly reticent nose of lemon peel, hay, white pepper, papaya, and faint sweet vanilla. Nearly full bodied, the acid is thick and just starting to soften.The mousse is fine and delicate; this is not the most spritzy of bubblers. The balance is good. Flavors include loads of lemon, lime, and flint. There's also a bit of orange and cardamom. This is good, though not my favorite vintage. I've had some that need a decade or more aging and this isn't one. I think it's probably best before 2028.
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12/17/2023 - Floral Likes this wine: 88 Points
Starts a touch tart and restrained. Turns to mead on the nose with freshly sliced green apples. Mouth is more restrained than the nose, though still expressive: peach, apricot skin, under-ripe plum, some spice. It’s nice.
3.6/5
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10/22/2023 - johnrpitts Likes this wine:
Two down at the WFF Auction. Crisp and dry with the right touch of complexity, a bit of that Chenin fruit on the palate. A big crowd pleaser!
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10/19/2023 - coremill wrote: 86 Points
I found this disappointing -- no real depth or complexity, undistinguished.
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9/27/2023 - mks83 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Day 1 - Sparkling Chenin in an old-school-Chablis-esque format. Bubbles are calm/muted looking in the glass but vibrant and semi-delicate in the mouth. The nose is subtly appley/peachy/lemony, and massively chalky and burnt-candle-like. Palate is bone-dry with burning acidity, with moderately honeyed (but still dry) finish, the leanness almost reminds of sparkling hard mineral water (interestingly I didn’t feel the residual sugar other people were talking about). It’s certainly an acquired taste, austere but would be excellent if food pairing is right. 89-90.
Day 2 - with reduced bubbles, feels more supple with layers of ginger and apple cider. Now I can detect some residual sugar, and malty bitterness. Overall assessment did not change.
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6/3/2023 - Ralph Alb wrote: 88 Points
Some residual sugar. Bright.
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4/15/2023 - chatters wrote:
Divino Wine Tasting Party (Foveaux Street, Surry Hills): slightly sharp lemons, a little butter (?), muted sweet spice and chalky minerality in support as well as a little bees wax and honey. Juicy, tangy, honey, fleshy mousse, lemon, bread yeast, slight butter. crikey this is nice!
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4/3/2023 - JWG wrote: 90 Points
Outstanding rendition of a Vouvray sparkler.
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3/20/2023 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 89 Points
Rich nose of flowers and honey. Effusive. Should age well. 89
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3/2/2023 - mmilgate Likes this wine:
Disgorged in October 2020 following 36 months on lees.
It has just over 1g/L residual sugar (the wine is dosed with the 2017 Le Haut-Lieu Demi-Sec)
Bottled at a low-pressure of 2.5/3 atmospheres (most Champagnes are between five and six), this wine has a more delicate fizz than most. The fruit is all estate-grown (certified biodynamic) and comes from the youngest vines. Crafted in a hybrid méthode ancestrale style (only natural sugar in the must was used for the second fermentation).
Floral on the nose. Citrus on the palate.
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2/28/2023 - steve@sdlind.com wrote: 87 Points
I thought the toast flavors masked the wonderful fruit flavors of this Vouvray.
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12/14/2022 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
A survey of Domaine Huet (Chicago, IL): Champagne it is not, but it definitely is made very well, with a bead that wouldn't be out of place there. A slight bitterness with maybe even a moderate wooliness gives away the different nature of this wine. Electric, bright, and zippy, but some sharp angles on the finish detract from the overall cohesion of this. For the money, quite a nice value.
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11/9/2022 - cshouston Likes this wine: 90 Points
Beautiful golden color reminiscent of Huet’s still Vouvray. Dry with a lovely, crispy acidic attack. Just lightly sparkling (as is with petillant), with aromas of toast and pear, and a very red apple/biscuity flavor profile. Very lean, but lacking concentration.
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7/22/2022 - Umay Ceviker wrote: 93 Points
Displays yeast and brioche top notes over mixed citrus aromas. Shows pure elegance, serious depth and a long, vivid finish.
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6/16/2022 - ThijsV Likes this wine: 90 Points
Loire trip 2022; 6/15/2022-6/19/2022 (Loire, France): [At Domaine Huet] Good acidity, nice mouthfeel. Citrus, pear, melon. Would love to see this with a bit more age
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5/19/2021 - fitzi wrote:
This was a nice, clean, correct Loire cremante (petillant). Crisp, dry, palate-cleansing. Not deep, initially quite simple, but gaining mild complexity over the space of two or three days, as the wine aerates (notwithstanding the dissipating fizziness).
I have fond memories of the 2002 petillant (not the reserve), but didn't really love it until it was ten years older and beyond, when the wine became suffused with deliciously sour oxidative notes, albeit the carbonation was more legacy than active. Not sure why Chenin wines can age in this particular way sometimes (I've had truly great, old, oxidized Savenières) and not others (multiple bottles of flat, dead 2012 Huet Clos de Bourg sec). Anyway, not sure I have the courage to invest in enough of this to hold for ten years; there were special reasons in 2002.
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