Domaine Huet, 2010 Update
Having noticed a number of offers concerning the latest vintage from Huet last week, including UK merchants Bibendum and The Wine Society, I realised it was about time I published my most recent notes on the wines of this domaine. These tasting notes include another look at some wines from the 2008 vintage, but also my first taste of the 2009s currently being offered. Unfortunately I haven’t tasted all that is on offer in 2009, but if I have tasted it then the notes are here. Hopefully, I will be able to fill in what gaps remain within the next few months.
The tasting notes below originate from two Huet tastings, the first from a tasting with Noël Pinguet at the annual Salon des Vins de Loire in February, the second from a visit to the domaine in July. In each case the wines were tasted according to residual sugar as is the norm, starting with the pétillant cuvées and then progressing through sec, demi-sec and moelleux in turn. I have maintained this order of tasting for my notes below in order to preserve some context of how the wines were tasted, although in my Huet profile I naturally present my notes ordered by vintage, and this approach also seems sensible for my discussion here.
Kicking off with 2009, it is already clear that this is an excellent vintage at Huet, facilitating the production of the full range of styles from across the famous trio of lieux-dits, although with a focus on sec and moelleux rather than demi-sec, as well as the exalted Cuvée Constance. Le Haut Lieu provides us with the only demi-sec, this vineyard topping out with a straight moelleux, whereas both Le Mont and the Clos du Bourg forego the demi-sec in favour of moelleux and moelleux première trie cuvées. There are sec cuvées from all three vineyards, and I suspect in future years we will see a 2009 pétillant, although for the moment the latest release in this style is 2005.
Please log in to continue reading: