A survey of Domaine Huet (Chicago, IL): Picture label. One of the best bottles of old white wine I've ever had. This bottle is simply perfect. The cork fell straight into the bottle when I touched it, but fortunately there was probably enough mold growing on the top of the bottle that it formed a seal to protect the wine from oxidation. And this wine drinks like it was put in a time machine. Blind, I think 1990s would have been a reasonable guess. Inordinately complex, with a light-on-its-feet concentration that only the best aged sweet wines can develop. There's but a modest bit of sweetness here, but the only partially dried yellow and white orchard fruits and acidity that feels nascently secondary at most give this wine a vivacity that belies its age. But despite that, this has all the requisite complexity of a wine of its age. Truly incredible.
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TN: Huet Fete V: 1924-1959 (Racines, NYC): While a nice showing, this couldn't match the bottle I opened just over six years ago. Aromatically, it's lovely, showing marzipan, candied citrus peel, desiccated apricot and tea, but on the palate the wine is a bit lean and the fruit seems to be tiring. The acidity is still lively, but this bottle lacks the fruit levels and the sweetness that previous bottles have shown and the finish does thin out. Low A-.
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Huets... 1959 and older (Racines, NYC): Good, but not excellent. Bright, citric and crisp, with nice minerality and classic "wool" notes, but a bit severe and lean on the palate.
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Sunday Night Dinner (Paris Club - Chicago, IL): The nose was a bit off-putting. I think the general consensus was that it was a distinct urine smell. There was also a hint of apple, pear and some typical wooly chenin character. Despite the aromatics being a bit strange, I thought the palate was far more exciting. Tons of stuff going on with a somewhat oily texture, lots of floral notes, and pear. I really liked the minerality and acidity that were integrated on the finish of the wine keeping it fresh at 65 years of age.
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Remarkable aromatics; fascinating to smell with a fragrance combining soy and high-toned horseradish elements with more typical Chenin honey, wool and stone fruits. It doesn't show the same savory/umami elements on the palate though, where there's a sense of purity to the fruit, though it doesn't have the same polish or persistence I've usually found in older Huet.
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It was in an original, old school bottle, but was one of many in the Huet library that had received a new cork and had been topped off with additional 1949 Huet when Anthony Hwang and winemaker Noel Pinguet purchased the estate after Gaston Huet's death in '02. Though we did not give the wine nearly enough time, it was a stellar showing. From the get go it was as spry, vigorous and complex as the birthday boy. In fact, initially the acidity was so intense, it was almost a little painful and made the wine seem more like a Demi-Sec than a Moelleux. The nose was the main show when we first popped it. Just beautiful honey and bee's wax, a touch of shoe polish with youthful quince and stone fruit aromas that belied the wines deep gold appearance. As expected, with air ( I managed to keep some in my glass for over an hour) the wine really started to blossom. The acidity integrated and the fruit and sweetness came up, texturally the wine became more mouth-filling and the wine exhibited traditional aged Chenin flavors and aromas of marzipan, citrus marmalade, earl grey tea and mineral. I think I even detected a hint of red fruit in there. Impeccably balanced, with a finish as long as my 86th street crosstown bus odyssey the other day. Just a thrilling showing. Solid A.
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At the Pre-SuperBOWL “Super Offline” dinner, 22nd October 2004, Restaurant Rococo Glasgow
A rich slightly bronzey gold. Very, very restrained nose: light honeyed elegance. Hugely elegant on palate – very light and fresh tasting with oodles of acidity with a neat sweetness. Good length. Enormous elegance. I really wouldn’t put this at this sort of age and if it were served blind, I’d have put it a lot younger and declared it to be infanticide. Worked very well with the foie gras.
Served with a terrine of foie gras with fig jam and celeriac remoulade. The terrine was well made, nicely seasoned allowing the richness of the liver to show through, and presented as three thin slices off a small (say 4cm) torchon. The slices of terrine were served on a rectangular smear of fig jam; the celeriac remoulade was otiose.
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12/14/2022 - acyso wrote: 100 Points
A survey of Domaine Huet (Chicago, IL): Picture label. One of the best bottles of old white wine I've ever had. This bottle is simply perfect. The cork fell straight into the bottle when I touched it, but fortunately there was probably enough mold growing on the top of the bottle that it formed a seal to protect the wine from oxidation. And this wine drinks like it was put in a time machine. Blind, I think 1990s would have been a reasonable guess. Inordinately complex, with a light-on-its-feet concentration that only the best aged sweet wines can develop. There's but a modest bit of sweetness here, but the only partially dried yellow and white orchard fruits and acidity that feels nascently secondary at most give this wine a vivacity that belies its age. But despite that, this has all the requisite complexity of a wine of its age. Truly incredible.
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11/4/2022 - DaleW wrote:
Apricot, honey, wax,and wool, long and complex. Lingering mineral and beeswax finish, yippee., A-/A
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3/19/2016 - BradKNYC wrote:
TN: Huet Fete V: 1924-1959 (Racines, NYC): While a nice showing, this couldn't match the bottle I opened just over six years ago. Aromatically, it's lovely, showing marzipan, candied citrus peel, desiccated apricot and tea, but on the palate the wine is a bit lean and the fruit seems to be tiring. The acidity is still lively, but this bottle lacks the fruit levels and the sweetness that previous bottles have shown and the finish does thin out. Low A-.
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3/19/2016 - mdefreitas wrote: 89 Points
Huets... 1959 and older (Racines, NYC): Good, but not excellent. Bright, citric and crisp, with nice minerality and classic "wool" notes, but a bit severe and lean on the palate.
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4/13/2014 - tooch wrote: 90 Points
Sunday Night Dinner (Paris Club - Chicago, IL): The nose was a bit off-putting. I think the general consensus was that it was a distinct urine smell. There was also a hint of apple, pear and some typical wooly chenin character. Despite the aromatics being a bit strange, I thought the palate was far more exciting. Tons of stuff going on with a somewhat oily texture, lots of floral notes, and pear. I really liked the minerality and acidity that were integrated on the finish of the wine keeping it fresh at 65 years of age.
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9/29/2012 - salil wrote: 90 Points
Remarkable aromatics; fascinating to smell with a fragrance combining soy and high-toned horseradish elements with more typical Chenin honey, wool and stone fruits. It doesn't show the same savory/umami elements on the palate though, where there's a sense of purity to the fruit, though it doesn't have the same polish or persistence I've usually found in older Huet.
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12/11/2009 - BradKNYC wrote:
It was in an original, old school bottle, but was one of many in the Huet library that had received a new cork and had been topped off with additional 1949 Huet when Anthony Hwang and winemaker Noel Pinguet purchased the estate after Gaston Huet's death in '02. Though we did not give the wine nearly enough time, it was a stellar showing. From the get go it was as spry, vigorous and complex as the birthday boy. In fact, initially the acidity was so intense, it was almost a little painful and made the wine seem more like a Demi-Sec than a Moelleux. The nose was the main show when we first popped it. Just beautiful honey and bee's wax, a touch of shoe polish with youthful quince and stone fruit aromas that belied the wines deep gold appearance. As expected, with air ( I managed to keep some in my glass for over an hour) the wine really started to blossom. The acidity integrated and the fruit and sweetness came up, texturally the wine became more mouth-filling and the wine exhibited traditional aged Chenin flavors and aromas of marzipan, citrus marmalade, earl grey tea and mineral. I think I even detected a hint of red fruit in there. Impeccably balanced, with a finish as long as my 86th street crosstown bus odyssey the other day. Just a thrilling showing. Solid A.
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10/22/2004 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 95 Points
At the Pre-SuperBOWL “Super Offline” dinner, 22nd October 2004, Restaurant Rococo Glasgow
A rich slightly bronzey gold. Very, very restrained nose: light honeyed elegance. Hugely elegant on palate – very light and fresh tasting with oodles of acidity with a neat sweetness. Good length. Enormous elegance. I really wouldn’t put this at this sort of age and if it were served blind, I’d have put it a lot younger and declared it to be infanticide. Worked very well with the foie gras.
Served with a terrine of foie gras with fig jam and celeriac remoulade. The terrine was well made, nicely seasoned allowing the richness of the liver to show through, and presented as three thin slices off a small (say 4cm) torchon. The slices of terrine were served on a rectangular smear of fig jam; the celeriac remoulade was otiose.
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