It’s hard to know where to start with this iconic producer, who will soon celebrate its 100th birthday. We could talk at length about Gaston Huet–widely regarded as the father of Vouvray–who founded the domaine in 1928 and was described as ‘méticuleux et maniaque’ by his son-in-law, Noël Pinguet, who took over running the domaine in 1976. Pinguet himself was no less meticulous or clear-eyed. We could talk about a domaine, certified biodynamic in 1990, that carefully hand-harvests all its grapes—even berry by berry—in an appellation where 90% of the harvest is done by machine. Or we could talk about the inspiring, close-knit family culture behind a domaine that has seen only four estate managers. And this is before we delve into three of the Loire Valley’s great limestone vineyards. Having Huet’s Sarah Hwang in town recently has given us the perfect opportunity to rekindle our appreciation for this domaine’s wines. We have previously compared this iconic Vouvray grower with the greatest estates in Germany, and this analogy still works brilliantly. From our portfolio, Robert Weil springs to mind. We have that same confluence of purity and intensity, not to mention both producers fashion wines that, while delicious young, can live and develop for 50+ years. Like Weil, Huet’s three famous single vineyards can produce wines from dry to luscious in a single vintage. Such comparisons remind us that great Chenin is really a soul sibling of the finest Riesling. Listening to Sarah talk about the domaine’s practices at harvest time was fascinating. Huet famously harvests in tries–or multiple passes–through the vineyards that can last for weeks, if not months. Instead of forcing a style of wine onto the vineyard, each vine is picked when ready. So, it is nature that ultimately determines what style is produced in the cellar. “When we are picking, we’re not thinking of what the wine type may be,” says Sarah, whose harvesters drop every bunch that does not look up to scratch. Harvesting only ripe, pristine fruit is Huet’s core tenet, handed down by Gaston Huet to Noël Pinguet and then onto Jean-Bernard Berthomé, who retired in 2021. The current vineyard manager and winemaker is Vouvray native Benjamin Joliveau, who was hand-picked by Noël Pinguet back in 2009. “We have large picking tables in the centre of the vineyards where a very rigorous selection takes place, even grape by grape,” he says. “And so, all the bunches brought to the cellar are perfectly healthy.” No matter the style, all the wines of Domaine Huet are remarkably pure and focused. But there is one with which Huet is synonymous, and in a league of its own. Moelleux is to Huet what Auslese is to J.J. Prüm, and, like those wines, the step-up from the demi-sec wines is one of intensity and texture rather than sweetness. Despite the jump in residual sugar, these fantastically nuanced wines retain incredible energy and vibrancy and dance across the palate with zest and light-footed intensity. Even at this level, we find the wines too intricate to pair with desserts. At a dinner with Noël Pinguet at Melbourne's Three, One, Two in 2008, Andrew McConnell and Adam Foster paired Huet’s moelleux wines with ‘White cut chicken, guanciale, grilled prawns, baby leeks & crushed hazelnuts’. We wish you could all have been there! At the top of the ladder—well, almost; see the 2018 Cuvée Constance below—lies Huet’s iridescent Moelleux Première Trie. Noël Pinguet created this unique category during the great back-to-back vintages of 1989 and 1990. To this day, they are made only in suitable years from a berry-by-berry selection of the very ripest (often botrytis-affected) grapes. Looking at the analysis, you might expect an unctuous richness and a certain generic sweetness to engulf each vineyard’s terroir. Not here. Instead, Huet’s genius delivers something more vivacious, crystalline, and knife-edged: a journey in texture and concentrated essence of each iconic terroir. Here, we find some of the most delicious and affordable of France’s great white wines.