“… There is an ethereal and elegant quality to these wines that defies scientific analysis."
- Rebecca Gibb MW
It’s not an uncommon thing in this biz for retailers to promote a wine or an
estate in terms of another great estate from a completely other region. The
“Lafite of the Languedoc!” or “The Beaucastel of the Abruzzo!” (Yeah, that
one was us, actually...) My all-time favorite was, “The La Tâche of pumpkin
seed oil!” (Thanks, T.T. for that gem)
Well, today we have the Huet of the... well, they’re not the Huet “of”
anything; they’re just Huet - the greatest estate in Vouvray. There are other
superb growers in the region, of course, but Huet is the gold standard. No
cellar is complete without some Huet representation in it. Their Chenin Blancs, both dry and sweet, age tremendously well, outliving most white and
even red wines from many famous regions. They were farming organically and biodynamically decades ago, and were certified biodynamic 30 years ago, long before most wineries were even thinking about farming that way. Critics have also saluted the wines for decades.
As with other such highly esteemed producers, there’s never a lot of wine to
be had. But it’s worth squirreling away a few bottles, we promise you! We highly recommend picking up a couple of dry wines and a couple demi-sec, and at least a bottle or two of their glorious moelleux. You will be very happy to find them in your collection sometime down the road.
So remember, one day when you see a retailer somewhere call some new
up-and-coming Chenin Blanc producer, “the Huet of South Australia,” or
some such puffery, you’ll be happy you have some of The Real McCoy!
- David Netzer
