2018 Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie
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Body: full-bodied. From ; 12.5% alcohol.
Sweetness: sweet. Moelleux on the label.
Acidity: high. from the fairly cool climate of .
Aromas: flowers, stone fruit and tropical fruit, typical of
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Log inThe wine offer of the Loire Valley is nothing but diverse, and Vouvray is the only region that best typifies this diversity. Granted, Vouvray is all about one variety: Chenin Blanc. Vouvray is located in the coolest part of the Loire and the climate has the most influence on the wine style. In colder years, increased acidity lends itself to both still and sparkling wines that can be dry, semi-dry, or medium dry.
Domaine Huet is without a doubt Reference for top wines in the Loire! Created in 1928, Domaine Huet has three special and different terroirs: Le Mont with 8 hectares, Le Haut-Lieu with 9 hectares and Le Clos de Bourg with 6 hectares surrounded by a stone wall. We are located east of Tours in the Loire. Since 1990, Huet has been one of the forerunners of biodynamic viticulture. This cultivation method, which fully respects the soil, the plant and the environment, ensures that the Chenin Blanc here shows its true character and authenticity. In the wine cellar, the wines ferment in a mix of old oak barrels (demi muids) and stainless steel tanks. Fermentation starts with the natural, own yeast. After the first fermentation, no lactic acid fermentation follows so that the wines retain their characteristic 'fraicheur'.
The Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie 2018 is fine, pure and vital with the typical remarkably complex nose, initially with aromas of white asparagus and mushrooms, but with more airiness, fresh toast, oak and stony notes take over. The taste is sweet and luscious but serious, lively fresh and very elegant, with fine and persistent tannins and a nice touch of fresh oak. Still sweet but delicate and vital, it has a very attractive juiciness that is structured but serious, along with firm tannins drawn from the oak barrels. 96/100 Parker
Character
The wine
- 100%
Origin
Bottle
Wine features
Parker
Rating
96
Release Price
NA
Drink Date
2026 - 2070
Reviewed by
Stephan Reinhardt
Issue Date
31st May 2019
Source
End of May 2019, The Wine Advocate
The 2018 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie is fine, pure and vital on the remarkably complex nose, initially with white asparagus and mushroom aromas, but with more aeration, fresh toast, oak and flinty notes take over. The palate is sweet and lush but serious, vibrantly fresh and highly elegant, provided with fine and lingering tannins as well as a lovely touch of fresh oak. Still sweet but delicate and vital, it has a highly attractive juiciness that is structured but serious, along with firm tannins extracted from the oak barrels. The darker toned, Pinot-like Première Trie is perhaps even finer and saltier than the beautifully balanced and finessed regular Moelleux and needs more time to integrate all its components. Tasted in May 2019.
The 30th vintage of biodynamic farming at Vouvray’s Domaine Huet, 2018 brought “grapes of great purity and richness. Rarely has nature been so generous both in the quantity of grapes and in the quality of the wine,” says the domaine’s the vintage report, summarizing a harvest that took place under “idyllic conditions” toward the end of the season.
A rather classic winter in Vouvray—“the one that we hope for every year, but which has been too rare in recent years”—was followed by a spring with “the most optimal conditions.” The heat of May and early June “greatly favored the growth of the vines.”
A downpour of 16 millimeters in two hours on June 16 immediately increased the pressure of mildew, but “strengthened by our unfortunate past experiences, we acted with determination to support the vines, and they stood without damage,” the report says.
A hot and dry summer with temperatures above seasonal norms didn’t cause any hydric stress, which is an effect of biodynamic farming and the “vital balance” between the soil, the plants and the environment, as the report stresses.
The hot season transitioned seamlessly into the fall, so physiological maturity was reached quickly. When the harvest began on September 17, under the best auspices—heat, sunlight, and good humor among the harvest team—the phenolic and aromatic maturity was also reached. “Under the benevolence of the solar star, time passed in a flash, and we ended the harvest on October 26, just prior to the full moon. This harvest was among the longest in our history, and oh, how satisfying!”
Huet’s 2018 vintage brought just one single Vouvray Sec, and this is the Clos du Bourg. Some weeks later, a Moelleux and Première Tri were also selected here. In the Haut-Lieu and Le Mont, everything from Demi-Sec to Première Trie was produced. Although I have often tended toward Le Mont, 2018 brought some terrific Clos du Bourg, and I couldn’t stop tasting the sites side by side so many times until the bottles were completely emptied. Rarely have I tasted Clos du Bourgs with such a perfect balance of ripe fruit and the most delicate finesse, especially when it comes to the sweet wines, of which the Première Trie might be the finest Huet wine of the vintage. Oh, these wines are so gentle and gracious! Le Mont, again, comes close to perfection in 2018 but needs time to develop even its very first accessibility. It was meticulous work sorting grapes to produce such a high-quality range of styles in the Le Mont terroir with its tuffeaux and quartzite soils. Doubtlessly, these are concentrated yet pure and mineral wines of outstanding class and finesse. Huet also produced a Cuvée Constance in 2018, but the wine was not yet ready to taste in May, as it had just been bottled four weeks prior, in the middle of April, following six months of cellar aging. I can only recommend cellaring as much of this as you and yours can drink. Although the 2018s already taste beautiful, these wines can be cellared for decades. There is no lack of freshness nor of purity, and the body weight is perfectly balanced. However, if ever you get the chance to get your hands on the 2017s, which are also terribly precise but also concentrated and very persistent, you should definitely seize the opportunity.
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Vinous
From: Vinous Lockdown Special (Oct 2020)
The 2018 Moelleux 1ére Trie Clos du Bourg is magnificent. Clean, mineral and also quite rich, the 2018 is all about harmony. Underlying veins of salinity frame the orange jam, passion fruit, apricot and chamomile flavor so well. Even with all of its obvious richness, Clos du Bourg retains its cut and energy. Wow!
- By Antonio Galloni on September 2020
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Domaine Huet was founded in 1928 by Victor Huet and is an iconic domain in the Loire. His son Gaston now owns thirty hectares of chenin blanc, divided over three parcels: Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont and Le Clos du Bourg. The estate was one of the forerunners of biodynamic viticulture in the French vineyard. This method, in which respect for the soil, the plant and the environment is paramount, ensures that the chenin blanc shows its true character and authenticity.
The suppleness of the brown clay of Le Haut-Lieu, the chiseled flint of Le Mont and the roundness of the limestone of Le Clos du Bourg give the Chenin grape wines an incomparable elegance. During the harvest, the ripe grapes are cut away separately in different phases, resulting in the different wine types. This is actually comparable to the German approach of Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, etc. The terms sec and demi-sec have therefore nothing to do with the names used in Champagne, because there it is a matter of dossage.
All wines, from dry/sec, semi-dry/demi-sec and sweet/moëlleux are of top quality, very precisely made and excellent for storage. In addition, the wines of Huet have a wonderful freshness to perfectly balance the little residual sweetness.
Deze Moelleux toont een verfijnde combinatie van zoete steenfruit- en marmeladetonen zoals abrikoos en sinaasappel, bloemige hintjes van kamille, een frisse zeste-achtige zuurgraad, zilte mineraliteit en een subtiele toets van toast en fijne tannines uit eiken. Dankzij die levendige zuurte en minerale snit snijdt de wijn mooi door rijke of zoute smaken, waardoor hij schittert bij schelp- en schaaldieren bereid in boter- of citrussauzen, bij romige of licht gezouten kazen zoals jonge geiten en triple-cream of zelfs bij foie gras en feestelijke desserts met karamel of gekarameliseerd fruit zoals tarte tatin en crème brûlée.
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