A dry wine from the original Le Haut-Lieu vineyard of Domaine Huet. Fermented spontaneously in old oak barrels and stainless steel. 12% alcohol.
Pale, slightly evolved yellow-green color. Restrained, somewhat developed and slightly sweet-toned nose with aromas of honey, some lemon marmalade, light notes of beeswax, a little bit of chalk dust and a hint of wool. The wine is light-bodied, lively and crisp on the palate with flavors of tart green apple, some developed nuttiness, light sharp notes of lemony citrus fruit, a little bit of tangy salinity, a hint of steely minerality and a touch of beeswax. Overall the wine feels somewhat thin, lacking a bit in substance. The finish is quite long, cool and mineral with flavors of steely minerality, tart green apple, some tart green apple, a little bit of developed nuttiness, light lemony tones, a hint of honeyed richness and a touch of marzipan.
A stylish and surprisingly delicate dry Chenin Blanc that shows a bit of evolution, yet comes across as relatively youthful for its age. However, the wine hasn't developed much of that aged Chenin waxy richness, but instead comes across as relatively thin and underwhelming in body. There's lots of finesse and nuance here, but even with air the wine feels quite light and restrained in style. While the wine most likely will continue to develop more complexity as it ages, this most likely isn't going to be among the more impressive vintages of Huet. A lovely drop nonetheless. If paired with food, it's better to not put it together with something too rich that could overwhelm the wine.
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Last Dinner of 2018 with Friends (Los Gatos, California): Full yellow. No oxidative notes and low pitched fruit. Medium weight, not as textural as some Huets. Mellow mix of waxy fruit, citrus, and good acidity, not terribly dry, completely sound, just not the depth or length of the very best years. Very good but unlikely to get better.
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Faint apple cider on the nose. On the palate, pear, apple cider, apricot, and strong notes of ginger and honeysuckle, with a slight sweetness underlying strong acidity. This is tasty and interesting, and it's ready to drink now, but it's not a good value at just under $60.
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Opened for 1 h prior to restaurant. Continued to develop during the course of the meal. A: Tart apples, a bit of bitter mineral, some chalk, flowers with some honeysuckle that emerges later. P:Tart apples, citrus, a bit of grapefruit pith, nice minerals in the midpalate. Great acids. F: Nice amalgam of tart apple, citrus, minerals with nice bitter pith. Of course, the last glass was the best - seamless harmony of all flavors with bright acids and minerals.
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Deep golden, light on the nose upon opening, opened up with some air and warmth to notes of honey and almond. Very bright and acidic on the palate, citrus and a floral finish.
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The wine is medium gold with thick legs. On the nose medium (+) intensity of citrus, green apple, honey, vanilla, hazelnuts and smoke. Very nicely developed nose. If I tasted this blind I would tend to think this is more of a bigger 'riesling nose', say, from a großes gewächs or an Australian one rather than a Chenin Blanc.
On the palate the first thing you will notice is how vibrant the wine is with its very high and almost austere level of acidity, something that one may not expect from a 16 year old wine. It is also very savoury (due to the tuffeau soil I suppose).
The golden liquid is medium bodied with a very good mouth feel. Flavours are largely consistent with the nose and it finishes medium with good minerality and hints of spices which I found quite pleasant. However, even after finishing the last drop of this wine I found it a bit difficult to reconcile my narrow impression of Vouvrays (i.e. the sweet, more common Demi-sec or Moelleux styles) with this bone dry liquid. To me this is more like a lighter style Savennières but may be it is simply because I did not taste enough Sec Vouvrays to date.
This wine still feels very young to me and I would certainly be interested to see how the wine can develop in 3-5 more years, especially after the acidity stabilizes.
Food pairing: Drank with seabass and the chemistry is certainly there but I reckon it may not be to everyone's liking. May be it would work better with shellfish
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Huet Masterclass with Jean-Bernard Berthomé and Sarah Hwang: Light golden colour. Ginger, quince, apple, almond and earth - this has plenty of interest from the aromatics. Still has good structure on the palate, the acidity really drives it through and lends it brightness. With more depth to the fruit this would be stunning. Another difficult vintage according to the winery, and this pre-dates the use of a sorting table (only being selected on the vine in 98) but another great wine that is drinking well now and should continue to do so over the next 5-6 years.
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11/15/2020 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points
A dry wine from the original Le Haut-Lieu vineyard of Domaine Huet. Fermented spontaneously in old oak barrels and stainless steel. 12% alcohol.
Pale, slightly evolved yellow-green color. Restrained, somewhat developed and slightly sweet-toned nose with aromas of honey, some lemon marmalade, light notes of beeswax, a little bit of chalk dust and a hint of wool. The wine is light-bodied, lively and crisp on the palate with flavors of tart green apple, some developed nuttiness, light sharp notes of lemony citrus fruit, a little bit of tangy salinity, a hint of steely minerality and a touch of beeswax. Overall the wine feels somewhat thin, lacking a bit in substance. The finish is quite long, cool and mineral with flavors of steely minerality, tart green apple, some tart green apple, a little bit of developed nuttiness, light lemony tones, a hint of honeyed richness and a touch of marzipan.
A stylish and surprisingly delicate dry Chenin Blanc that shows a bit of evolution, yet comes across as relatively youthful for its age. However, the wine hasn't developed much of that aged Chenin waxy richness, but instead comes across as relatively thin and underwhelming in body. There's lots of finesse and nuance here, but even with air the wine feels quite light and restrained in style. While the wine most likely will continue to develop more complexity as it ages, this most likely isn't going to be among the more impressive vintages of Huet. A lovely drop nonetheless. If paired with food, it's better to not put it together with something too rich that could overwhelm the wine.
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12/31/2018 - drwine2001 wrote:
Last Dinner of 2018 with Friends (Los Gatos, California): Full yellow. No oxidative notes and low pitched fruit. Medium weight, not as textural as some Huets. Mellow mix of waxy fruit, citrus, and good acidity, not terribly dry, completely sound, just not the depth or length of the very best years. Very good but unlikely to get better.
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6/18/2017 - mkmast wrote: 94 Points
A beautiful example of what a wine can evolve into. Golden color stunning on the palate.
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9/22/2016 - RichardP wrote: 90 Points
Faint apple cider on the nose. On the palate, pear, apple cider, apricot, and strong notes of ginger and honeysuckle, with a slight sweetness underlying strong acidity. This is tasty and interesting, and it's ready to drink now, but it's not a good value at just under $60.
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6/19/2016 - James Kim wrote: 93 Points
Opened for 1 h prior to restaurant. Continued to develop during the course of the meal. A: Tart apples, a bit of bitter mineral, some chalk, flowers with some honeysuckle that emerges later. P:Tart apples, citrus, a bit of grapefruit pith, nice minerals in the midpalate. Great acids. F: Nice amalgam of tart apple, citrus, minerals with nice bitter pith. Of course, the last glass was the best - seamless harmony of all flavors with bright acids and minerals.
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6/1/2016 - Der Weingelehrte wrote: 92 Points
In a nice spot - fully developed.
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2/3/2016 - CamWheeler wrote: flawed
Scanavino Vertical: Corked.
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12/26/2015 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 91 Points
Honeystuckle and apricot aromas...Dry and crisp - stone fruit and paraffin wax notes
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11/30/2015 - tcavallo Likes this wine: 90 Points
Deep golden, light on the nose upon opening, opened up with some air and warmth to notes of honey and almond. Very bright and acidic on the palate, citrus and a floral finish.
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5/12/2015 - JOsgood wrote:
Beautiful golden in color. Sweet and savory on the palate. Complex and earthy.
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12/24/2014 - Tony Ling Likes this wine: 88 Points
The wine is medium gold with thick legs. On the nose medium (+) intensity of citrus, green apple, honey, vanilla, hazelnuts and smoke. Very nicely developed nose. If I tasted this blind I would tend to think this is more of a bigger 'riesling nose', say, from a großes gewächs or an Australian one rather than a Chenin Blanc.
On the palate the first thing you will notice is how vibrant the wine is with its very high and almost austere level of acidity, something that one may not expect from a 16 year old wine. It is also very savoury (due to the tuffeau soil I suppose).
The golden liquid is medium bodied with a very good mouth feel. Flavours are largely consistent with the nose and it finishes medium with good minerality and hints of spices which I found quite pleasant. However, even after finishing the last drop of this wine I found it a bit difficult to reconcile my narrow impression of Vouvrays (i.e. the sweet, more common Demi-sec or Moelleux styles) with this bone dry liquid. To me this is more like a lighter style Savennières but may be it is simply because I did not taste enough Sec Vouvrays to date.
This wine still feels very young to me and I would certainly be interested to see how the wine can develop in 3-5 more years, especially after the acidity stabilizes.
Food pairing: Drank with seabass and the chemistry is certainly there but I reckon it may not be to everyone's liking. May be it would work better with shellfish
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11/17/2014 - CamWheeler wrote: 91 Points
Huet Masterclass with Jean-Bernard Berthomé and Sarah Hwang: Light golden colour. Ginger, quince, apple, almond and earth - this has plenty of interest from the aromatics. Still has good structure on the palate, the acidity really drives it through and lends it brightness. With more depth to the fruit this would be stunning. Another difficult vintage according to the winery, and this pre-dates the use of a sorting table (only being selected on the vine in 98) but another great wine that is drinking well now and should continue to do so over the next 5-6 years.
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