Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec "Le Haut-Lieu" 2023
(Loire Valley, France) - [VM 93] [WS 92]

Notes from the Winemaker:
From its three storied Vouvray vineyards—Clos du Bourg, Le Haut-Lieu, and Le Mont—Domaine Huet makes some of the world’s most profound and long-lived white wines in all styles, ranging from the crystalline clarity of the bone-dry sec to the lighty sweet precision of the demi-sec, to the rich and ambrosial moelleux. At each sugar level, they are the ultimate examples of Loire Valley Chenin Blanc. 

Though 2023 was a challenging vintage, with not enough early rains, then too much in the summer, Huet’s team worked heroically in the vineyard by hand-inspecting its vines and discarding any lesser grape clusters. But Huet didn’t stop there, and elected to sort the grapes yet again at the winery before they entered the press. Without the team’s painstaking work, Huet would’ve ended up in the same boat as other biodynamic growers, some of which lost virtually all of their crop. The result is a very strong, and critically beloved, lineup featuring dry wines from all three sites. With lower alcohol and elevated acidity, the three secs remind one of the great Huets from the 1980s and 
1990s. But as the secs are surely to garner much attention, the Le Mont and Clos du Bourg demis are not to be underestimated. Some may consider them the winners of the vintage as they lean toward the drier side, around 20g/l, with incredible focus. They’ll also age beautifully and indefinitely.