Le Mont demi-sec 2023

An off-dry Chenin Blanc that in this vintage shows delicate and beguiling, already approachable in its youth, though well worth laying down. Dark spice notes stand alongside white blossom, depth alongside a floating lightness.

The Le Mont vineyard lies above the tuff caves and east of the estate, on the first plateau of Vouvray, the Première Côte, facing south. It is already mentioned in the 15th century. Its nine hectares are owned outright by Domaine Huet; Gaston Huet acquired the site in 1957, the last of the estate's three vineyards. The several-metre-deep topsoil consists of stony flint, in places the size of a fist, known locally as perron, and deep green clay, above Turonian tuffeau limestone.

Pure Chenin Blanc. In 2023, spotted wing drosophila hit the vineyards of Vouvray hard, demanding rigorous quality management: during the already numerous picking passes, every single berry was inspected, and at least 25 percent of the harvest was discarded. The sorted grapes were pressed and fermented spontaneously, with malolactic fermentation occurring only in exceptional cases and in individual barrels. The wine was aged in used demi-muids. At Huet, demi-sec denotes 20 grams of residual sweetness.

The 20 grams of residual sugar are barely perceptible, so precisely do residual sweetness and acidity interlock. The wine has tension and density, while coming across as playful, almost effortlessly drinkable, finishing saline and mouth-watering.

Gaston Huet introduced biodynamics in the late 1980s; since 1993 the entire estate has been Demeter-certified. The deep rock galleries beneath Le Mont serve as the cellar: constant temperature, neutral vessels, time. Since 2020, cellar master Benjamin Joliveau, a native of Vouvray, has been responsible for the wines.