ABOUT: One of the best in the Loire Valley, Huet has been producing amazing Chenin Blanc since its inception in 1928. Victor Huet’s son, Gaston, joined him in 1937, then further down the road and still in the family, Gaston’s son in law, Noel Pinguet, joined the party in 1971. Gaston passed away in 2002, when Anthony Hwang stepped in alongside Noel to keep things moving. In 2012 the winemaking torch was passed along to Jean-Bernard Berthomé, who continues making outstanding wines from this outstanding domaine.They are well known for being one of the first domaines to embrace biodynamics. They produce the four styles of wine allowed in the Loire; dry, off dry, sweet, and sparkling. The wines are routinely stunning and are some of the most age worthy wines on TASTE: Let’s talk about what all the label stuff means here. Le Mont is the name of the vineyard the fruit came from. Premiere Trie essentially means it’s the best fruit from that vineyard in that vintage. Trie means to “pass” through the vineyard, so in a season there will be a handful of tries, the more time goes on the riper and riper the harvested grapes are. The wine is moelleux, which means sweet, so this was a later trie. This wine could, and would be considered “late harvest” in other parts of the world. The flavor, body, and general length of this wine is outstanding. Peaches, melon, honey, almonds and lavender. In my book this is where Chenin shines above all others. The shimmering beam of acidity keeps all of the unctuous flavors balanced; the wine is rich but not cloying. Utterly delicious, and will evolve with time. Vintages of this wine from the 1950’s and 60’s fetch big dollars today, so they really do last.
PAIR:Kettle corn with peanuts, honeydew melon with goat cheese, nuts, gougeres with savory mushroom filling, and pumpkin creme brulee.
