Huet fete part III: Schildknecht comes to town.

So, it began in typical fashion. Yet another disagreement with an assertion by Lyle Fass on the board. This time over his claims that Germany makes the best Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Silvaner. A proposed taste-off ensued pitting Germany and Alsace against each other, but as soon as Lyle started to mention trockens I realized this was going to be an exercise in futility as he wouldn't like the wines I'd bring and I wouldn't like the wines he'd bring, so what would be the point? He should know by now that the minute he utters the word "trocken," I'll pull a Monty Python and "run away!" In a bold hijack move, I quickly suggested we conduct a Huet vertical as it's one of the few estates Lyle and I share agreement on and it had been awhile since the last Huet fete and the original Huet-a-thon.

At the mere mention of a Huet tasting the mail box starts to fill up. Napa Valley denizen Mark Anisman mentioned that he'll be in NY in November and hey, is that David Schildknecht trying to crash? I had met David 9-10 years ago at a German wine tasting in NY and despite being friends with a number of people who knew David well and being a fan of his writings, I still had never had the opportunity to share a glass with him so the prospect of doing so and his being in town the same time as Mark, set the date.

Huet guru Joe Dougherty was kind enough to host the event at his chic Tribeca lair and so on a rainy Friday, November 9th, a group of Vouvray lovers gathered for a memorable evening that was themed Huet 1990 and older, though, in fact, the majority of the wines would be from 1936-1959.

Just a brief note about the wines before I get to the tasting notes. We had a dozen Vouvray and there was not a single corked or damaged bottle. That's a truly remarkable fact given the age of most of the wines and that maybe only one, at most two of them were purchased on release. The wines overall showed extremely well. For a few of the vintages, they were the best bottles of them that I've had and there was only one, maybe two wines that I would consider to be on the downward slope of their life, though they both drank well and offered up plenty of pleasure. The differences between the wines were not so much in their flavor profile, they were pretty similar there given the fairly close age range, but it was more about the vineyard differences, with the power of Clos du Bourg and finesse of Le Mont with Le Haut-Lieu falling in the middle, that stood out. That and the various shades of texture, acid and sugar levels.

Truly a great evening.

• 2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant Brut

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant

  My first go at this recent release. Shows nice freshness and intensity with beautifully earthy mineral, yellow fruit and gingerbread flavors and aromas. Wonderful cut and focus with the slightly sharp edges balanced nicely by the fruit. Deep and refreshing with more there than I'm letting on. Probably my favorite Petillant since the '95 and given how well the next wine showed, it will almost certainly age better than I will. Solid A-.

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• 1964 Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant Sec

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant

  My seventh or eighth bottle of this and probably the best one I've had, though one tasted a few months ago also showed very well. There's been a lot of variation in the bottles I've had and Dougherty believes that it's probably a loose cork problem as the good bottles we've had have been so fresh that it's doubtful the wine is in decline. It's a deep yellow color and though it shows mature characteristics, there's still a certain freshness and vibrancy to the wine. It has a soft mousse, though this one is more vibrant than all others I've had, with desiccated stone fruits, walnuts, honey comb and faint citrus flavors. It's a bit fresher on the palate than the nose would suggest and it picks up a nice appley note on the finish. A-.

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• 2006 Királyudvar Furmint Tokaji Sec

  Hungary, Tokaji

  70% Furmint, 30% Hárslevel?
  I should have known Dougherty might try to slip one of these wines in as the estate's proprietor, Anthony Hwang, is also that of Huet's and the winery's consultant is Noël Pinguet. Tasted double blind, I thought it at first smelled like a Northern Italian or Austrian white with its white and yellow floral qualities and chalky mineral. There's a pleasant softness to the mouthfeel with a strong chalk character, especially on the finish which reminds me a lot of Chidaine's style of Montlouis, so that's what I guess. Quite nice. Solid B+.

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• 1946 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  When Joe pulled this out I must confess that I grimaced. I'm usually not one for secs and Joe had brought this to a tasting about a year ago and it was both intriguing and slightly horrifying at the same time. More of an intellectual curiosity in my book. That said, this bottle was much better than that one. Like the previous bottle, on first pour it showed a malty/peatiness akin to a single malt Scotch, but that quickly blew off and smoky mineral and quince aromas emerged. Quite fresh on the palate with almost too intense acidity. It manages to have baked apple flavors while retaining green apple acidity. With air it did harmonize and round out a bit, but while quite good, I do wish there was some residual sugar to help balance it out more. B+.

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• 1971 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  I may have had this wine more than any other from Huet as when I worked at Garnet, around '99-'00 we received something like 5-8 cases of it and were selling it for $36.99. I bought a bunch and most of my friends bought the rest, so for the past seven or so years, it's always found its way into a dinner. While it's always been an excellent wine, over the last two or three years this wine has just gone into an absolutely stellar phase. This bottle is simply the best bottle of demi-sec I've had and is one of the most profound dryish whites, period, that I've ever had. It shows typical flavors and aromas of quince, yellow flowers, a touch of apple and shoe polish to go with the requisite intense minerality, but what really made this wine so incredible was the depth of these flavors and how perfectly in-tune the wine is. It's just balanced perfectly and makes you want to both guzzle the wine because it's so good, yet spend time savoring every drop. A+/A.

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• 1957 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Clos du Bourg

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Starts off with slightly stinky cheese aromas, though in a good way and not terribly atypical for aged Chenin. With air it reveals floral notes with a touch of pine. It's a lighter and more delicate wine than any of the other demi-secs, with razor sharp acidity made more pronounced by the relative lack of sweetness and fruit. Still, there's quite enjoyable honeycomb and mineral flavors backed up by somewhat tart apricot. I think this and the '46 Sec were Keith's favorite wines of the night as they had the highest acidity and least amount of fruit and sugar. It paired very nicely with the goose rillettes as the fat helped tame the acidity and the acidity the goose fat. Low A-.

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• 1953 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Shows a slightly deeper yellow than the previous two demi-secs and has more mature flavors and aromas. It's noticeably sweeter, though is still a very food-friendly wine. It has a bit more depth than the '57, but not as much as the '71. Lovely old apricot, baked apple, pineapple and earthy mineral abound with a nicely textured mouthfeel. Perhaps a little soft on the finish, but this is a thoroughly delicious wine with plenty of interesting things going on in it. A /A-.

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• 1959 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  We lucked out and got an excellent showing for this wine that is frequently enigmatic. I've had several corked bottles and several others where the wine just didn't show that well, but it was certainly on tonight. The wine was lighter in color than the previous demi-secs, certainly sweeter, but also more youthful than the age difference would suggest due to its vivacious acidic structure. The wine really took some time to get going and I'd certainly recommend decanting for a couple of hours in advance. In fact, I think Dougherty was banging up each wine in a decanter to get things going after the '46 Sec. It's a bit more precise than previous bottles, with intense minerality and fresh apricot fruit. I know Joe recently mentioned that he felt this wine was starting to show dry, but I'm not sure I fully concur with this showing, though I do see all the elements of his argument present and agree it would work well with savory dishes. Just a terrific wine that showed complexity, depth and richness without being heavy and hasn't yet felt the twinges of old age. A.

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• 1936 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Not the best of vintages, but a wine still offers plenty to enjoy and has a few surprises up its sleeve. One of the darker, if not the darkest wine of the night at a light amber color. At first gloss it shows mature flavors of desiccated stone fruits, shoe polish, walnuts and earl grey tea. Not much sweetness left which made the still vibrant acidity a little spiky and the finish a bit ungenerous and short at first blush. However, if there's any lesson to be learned tonight it's that no matter what their age, give these wines air! Going back to the wine later in the evening showed that the wine had really rounded out and taken on some intriguing coffee and tobacco notes. While one of only two wines tonight that are clearly on their down slope, this old girl still has some moves to show. Low A-.

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• 1955 Ackerman Vouvray Premiére Tête Clos Le Mont

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  An interesting bottle to throw into the mix as this was the negotiant that Huet purchased fruit from for their Le Mont bottlings prior to purchasing the vineyard outright in 1957. Along with the '36 Huet, this was the only wine of the night that clearly was on the decline and this one more so than the '36. It's not as effusive on the nose and palate as the other wines and shows tea, nut and oxidative notes with a touch of marmalade. There was no indication of sweetness level, but it seems clear it's at the Moelleux level. That Chenin acidity is there, but there's not much fruit or sugar left to support it. Plenty of holes in this wine and not as polished as the Huet bottlings, but I still enjoy the aged Chenin characteristics. B+/B.

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• 1953 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Here's a wine I tried a number of times ten years ago when there was a re-release of it, but haven't had the opportunity to try in a few years. At the time I felt it was kind of hit or miss, with a few bottles showing a bit tired. Not so this one as it shows quite a bit of freshness. Mineral and stone fruit dominated with honey and tea flavors and aromas. Not as sweet as others I've had, but nicely balanced. There is a bit of a dip in the mid-palate and it's not as interesting or as well-balanced as the '53 demi-sec, but this is showing nicely. A-.

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• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  It goes without saying that this is the most youthful wine of the night, but this showing is a further indication that many of the '89's from Huet are finally out of their temperamental stage, though are still quite young to be sure. It's by far the sweetest wine of the night and full of boisterous quince, apricot, pineapple and bergamot notes to go along with the omnipresent mineral character, all of which is supported by a sizable backbone. Though I've never had their '89 sec, from demi-sec up through Pinguet's special cuvees, the estate simply made a spectacular array of wines in '89, though there is the caveat that a bunch of '89's seem to have cork issues. Terrific wine. Low A.

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• 1947 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Always a rare treat to try this legend and we're blessed with another excellent showing tonight. Every bottle I've had of this wine that comes with a plastic capsule has had a lot of blackish/brownish gunk underneath it and this one is no exception. It doesn't seem to impact the wine, though. There's no sweetness level indicated on the label, but it's assumed to be Moelleux and while there's plenty of sugar in this wine, it does seem a little drier initially than other bottles I've had from the same purchase. That said, with air it did appear to gain sweetness as the wine rounded out. As a number of us at the table have had multiple experiences with this wine, the varying sweetness levels led to a discussion that perhaps there was indeed sweetness variation from barrel to barrel. Dougherty pointed out that the wine still shows a youthful green on the rim. I remember Robert Callahan making the same observation eight or so years ago when Joe opened a bottle at a dinner for a visiting Victor de la Serna. Still showing no signs of decline despite its light amber color. Just endlessly long in the mouth, exquisitely balanced with layers of apricot, earl grey tea, spearmint, orange marmalade, mineral and a dash of shoe polish. A great wine to end a great evening. A+.

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