1989 Vouvray Madness

A friend with a number of 1989 Huets proposed a tasting to open them for us, and sweetened the pot with a couple of 1989 Pinons and a 1989 Foreau Moelleux Reserve. I brought a Cuvée Constance and Pinon Botrytis and another participant added a Pinon Goutte d'Or to help complete the set. One person didn't have anything directly on theme but brought two wines we finished with that were well worth drinking.

We thought that Szechuan food would pair well with the wines and met at Good Luck Gourmet, an excellent local Shaanxi and Szechuan restaurant to put it to the test. We were correct, as the wines showed well with a wide array of dishes. The all-Pinon flight turned out to work particularly well with the food.

Unfortunately I came down with a cold a few days before the dinner, so my notes are fairly cursory and my ratings should be taken with an even smaller grain of salt than usual. It still turned out to be a memorable night of great wine, great food, and great company.

• NV Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Pétillant Brut 89 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant

  Simple, but fairly rich and pleasant, a little nutty reflecting the age, as I think this was a 2008 base vintage.

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• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu 91 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Honeyed rainwater, lovely, nice balance of off-dry sweetness and acid. It fades in the glass, though, so perhaps not the best bottle. Quite dark in color as well.

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• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg 92 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Dark honey color, clover honey with a little orange twist, a little lanolin, fairly sweet. It is showing quite well.

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• 1989 François Pinon Vouvray Moelleux 90 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Straw colored, it shows a little star anise at first, with bright and fresh quince fruit. More an aperitif than a dessert wine, it pairs well with Szechuan food. 48 g/l RS, 4.7 g/l acidity, 12.47% alcohol.

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• 1989 François Pinon Vouvray Réserve Passerillée 92 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Much lighter in color than the 1989 Botrytis and Goutte d'Or, with a touch of star anise tinting the bright quince fruit, very fresh and not showing as sweet. Very much like the 1989 Moelleux with just a little more of everything. 70 g/l RS.

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• 1989 François Pinon Vouvray Cuvée Botrytis Limited Release 92 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Much darker than the Moelleux and the Réserve Passerillée, but not quite as dark as the Huets, fairly sweet, light honey and apricot with good acidity and persistence. 12.6% alc, 75 gr RS, acidity 4.85, PH 3.32.

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• 1989 François Pinon Vouvray Moelleux La Goutte d'Or 91 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Sweet and rich, but showing a little fat. With time, the acidity becomes more noticeable which helps bring out more dimension. The 1989 is showing as sweeter and richer than the 1990, despite having less sugar, and should probably be drunk before the 1990. Like the other 1989 Pinon sweet wines, it paired very well with an array of Szechuan dishes. 12.8 alc, 75 gr RS, acidity 5.00.

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• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Clos du Bourg Flawed

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Corked.

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• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Mont 93 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Sweet and a little floral with good acidity. 79 g/l RS, 7.7 g/l acidity (I've been informed that the correct acidity is 4.88, which seems more likely).

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• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Haut-Lieu 95 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Great complexity with great acidity and brightness. It showed the technicolor interplay between the sugar, acid, and fruit that exemplify the great sweet Huets. 100 g/l RS, 5.70 g/l acidity, 12.9% alcohol.

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• 1989 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux Réserve 92 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Intense sweetness and acidity but not as complex as I expected. A good but not great bottle. 150 g/l RS.

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• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance Flawed

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Lightly corked, which is enough to kill it.

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• 1967 Hugel Muscat Réserve Exceptionnelle

  France, Alsace

  Labeled "Extra Dry," it was perplexing, but alive. Bone dry but with color and aromatics suggesting sweetness, and not showing a lot of Muscat peach but does have some of the florality, more of an interesting experience than an emotional one.

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• 1994 Zind-Humbrecht Tokay Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Sélection de Grains Nobles Trié Spéciale 94 Points

  France, Alsace

  Almost excruciatingly sweet but kept in balance by equally intense acidity. It really blows out the taste buds, as after a few sips of it not even a 1989 Foreau Moelleux Reserve really registers on the palate. Reportedly 540 g/l RS, 12 grams acidity, 4% alcohol.

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