Domaine Huet

No Pain, No Gain—Stunning Dry Chenin from a Biodynamic Icon
Domaine Huet

It’s tempting to say Huet pulled off a miracle in 2023. But then, the great growers make their own luck. So, let’s say they have pulled off a masterclass on how best to own a growing season that was far from straightforward. We could talk about the humid summer, the arrival of powdery mildew—a bête noir to biodynamic growers—or the return of the irksome Suzukii fruit fly (the aphid that took a chunk out of Burgundy in 2014); yet at Huet, these challenges have been rendered a footnote to what, in the bottle, is a sensational year for this grower’s wines.

“Trust the great winemakers, trust the great vineyards.” Kermit Lynch’s great war cry remains as relevant today as when it was written some quarter of a century ago. When we arrived in Vouvray in late October last year, Huet was one of the few domaines still harvesting. Many had since given up the ghost. Benjamin Jolivieu explained that the harvest took twice as long as in 2022, but he knew the effort had paid off. No pain, no gain. Draconian sorting, starting when the grapes were still on the vine, came down to a berry-by-berry selection when the fruit hit the cellar. Losses of 30% seemed like a fair price for the quality achieved.

Despite a smattering of demi-sec and a gorgeous moelleux or two, 2023 was a year that favoured the dry styles. There’s lovely texture, complexity and drive to the wines this year, alongside a shimmering, light-filled length. The juiciest and most forward of the three dry wines is Le Haut Lieu, a succulent glade of orange and stone fruit kissed by white flowers and subtle toasty notes. From Huet’s chalkiest vineyard, Le Mont ramps up the mineral presence alongside yellow citrus, fresh-cut quince and outstanding, salty length. Clos du Bourg lives up to its reputation as one of the Loire’s great vineyards with its saturating meadow flower and spice-flecked palate, full of complexity and tension. Bursting with zesty freshness to balance its supple mandarin orange fruit, a mesmerising moelleux from the same vines is flat-out stunning.

The Wines

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2023
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Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2023

Le Haut-Lieu was the estate’s first vineyard, purchased in 1928. Situated on the Première Côte, it’s a nine-hectare plot on deep brown chalky clay (known as aubuis). The yellow limestone (tuffeau) bedrock lies up to four metres down, making for a richer soil that produces round, supple wines that drink very well young. It generally produces the earliest-maturing of the three cuvées and is usually ready to drink first, but, like Clos du Bourg and Le Mont, the wines can be extremely long-lived. We have enjoyed bottles from the ’40s that are still drinking very well!


“The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu is a pure, refined, seamless style with pear, pineapple and nectarine flavors. It boasts excellent clarity and refinement, with lovely freshness hailing from calibrated acidity that bursts through this blossoming wine. Considering this was only bottled three weeks before tasting, I'm very encouraged by the results.” 93 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous

"The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu is a pure, refined, seamless style with pear, pineapple and nectarine flavors. It boasts excellent clarity and refinement, with lovely freshness hailing from calibrated acidity that bursts through this blossoming wine. Considering this was only bottled three weeks before tasting, I'm very encouraged by the results."
93 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“This stunning dry Vouvray has such an exciting energy on the simultaneously focused and creamy medium-bodied palate. I love the juicy core, then the way the wet stone character builds to an impressive intensity in the long, precise finish. Still really youthful and with great aging potential.”
94 points, Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2023
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Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec 2023
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Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec 2023

Perched on the Première Côte just above the town of Vouvray, Clos du Bourg is a monopole and generally regarded as the greatest of the three Huet single vineyards. It has been farmed by the domaine since 1953 and was purchased in 1963. Arguably the region’s greatest vineyard, Clos du Bourg makes some of Europe's most powerful, thrilling and long-lived white wines. With only one metre of topsoil over solid limestone, the vines immediately tap into the mineral resources underfoot. The warmth of the site, combined with the mineral complexion of the soils, results in rich, long-lived wines that effortlessly combine intense, charged minerality with generous texture and concentration.


“The aromas of floral honey, cashew nuts and butter are married to a brioche character reminiscent of good Champagne, but this is completely still. On the medium-bodied palate, the interplay of honeyed creaminess and elegant acidity is enchanting, the wine gliding over your palate. Long, supple finish.”
93 points, Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec 2023
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Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2023
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Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2023

Purchased in 1957, the steep, rocky, eight-hectare vineyard of Le Mont lies on Vouvray’s esteemed Première Côte, part of a bank of limestone-rich hillside vineyards overlooking Tours. This block's argilo-siliceux soils (stony with green mineral clays and flint over limestone) provide the tight structure and pungent minerality Le Mont is renowned for. With less clay (and a different type of clay) and more stone than Le Haut-Lieu, this site typically produces the nerviest wines of the Huet stable, so mostly dry and off-dry whites are produced.

"The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Mont is precise, upright and flinty. It's less immediately charming than the styles we've seen in recent warmer vintages, but it was only tasted three weeks after bottling - this is one to revisit. There's just the right amount of juicy, peachy flesh within this light-bodied yet concentrated wine. It has the potential to charm but does so without showing off. Flinty and tightly sewn together, it has curves in the right places, but you're just going to have to wait for it to take shape."
95 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“One of the great dry white wines of the Loire. This dry chenin blanc is rich and concentrated, but also graceful and delicate. Full-bodied but so elegant and precise, with a wet stone minerality that builds in a spectacular manner in the very long, refined finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.”
96 points, Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2023
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Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux 2023
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Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux 2023

Huet is the nonpareil of Vouvray’s succulent moelleux style (pronounced mweh-leuh; literally 'like marrow', referring to the fleshy texture). Falling between 40 and 80 g/L of residual sugar—always fully balanced by high acidity—the wines are made mainly from grapes dried on the vine (passerillage) as opposed to botrytised. Huet’s moelleux can be surprisingly fine and delicate with filigree lightness—think of a great Mosel rather than Sauternes to get an idea of weight. They match brilliantly with cheeses and a range of savoury meat dishes. Only the richest years can work with fruit and tart-based desserts (ideally, nothing too sweet). In short, the balance can be dumbfounding—these mouth-watering, racy, transparent wines are simply outstanding.


"The 2023 Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg is a very peaceful wine, hushing the drinker. It reminds me of sitting on a pew in an empty church. Seamless, tranquil and un-showy, its sweetness lends silkiness to its core and allows it to bloom. Aromatically, there's not much going on here at the moment, but it is quite young and has ample length and purity. This is satisfying, calm and meditative, with fine texture and a cooling minty note on the long finish. It was only bottled three weeks ago, but I'm a fan already. The 2023 finished at 74 grams per liter of residual sugar, with a pH of 3.45."
98 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“It’s hard to imagine a dessert wine that’s better balanced than this, because the acidity and richness seem to dance across your palate. It’s dense and complex, with myriad aromas of dried fruit, candied citrus, floral honey and fresh garden herbs, but the final impression is of incredible clarity and precision. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold”
96 points, jamessuckling.com
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux 2023
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“No matter what the vintage or the wine style (including sparkling), the quality is always extraordinary and clearly reflects the excellence of their terroirs. The chiseled, contoured mouthfeel and precise minerality are unique in the Loire.” *** 2024 Guide Vert, La Revue du Vin de France (one of only eight domaines with the highest three-star rating).



“'Domaine Huet’ means ‘I make the best damn Chenin Blanc on the planet’.” Mike Steinberger



“No matter the site or the sweetness level, there is an ethereal and elegant quality to these wines that defies scientific analysis.” Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous

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