Le Mont Moelleux 2022

The Le Mont Moelleux 2022 is a noble sweet Vouvray made from pure Chenin Blanc, whose 51 grams of residual sugar barely register as sweetness: acidity, phenolics and salt keep it taut. Densely woven, dark in tone, piquant on the finish.

Le Mont sits on the first plateau of Vouvray, the Première Côte, south-facing and directly above the domaine's historic tuffeau cellars. The site is already mentioned in the 15th century; its nine hectares are in the estate's sole ownership and were acquired by Gaston Huet in 1957. The topsoil, several metres deep, consists of pebbly, sometimes fist-sized flint, known locally as perron, set in deep green clay, underlain by Turonian tuffeau limestone.

Pure Chenin Blanc. Harvest began on 8 September 2022, the second-earliest date in the estate's history, and lasted six weeks: heat and drought had ripened the grapes very unevenly, so 24 harvesters sorted meticulously across many passes. Spontaneously fermented, aged in used demi-muids, with malolactic fermentation in only a few barrels. At Huet, moelleux means 45 to 55 grams of residual sugar; here it's 51.

On the nose, kumquat, apple and ripened pineapple, alongside curry leaf and apple peel, overlaid with the scent of crushed quartz. On the palate, plenty of grip and clear phenolics, ripe fruit alongside tart grapefruit and bitter orange, tobacco and stone, finishing on flint and salt. The wine will easily continue developing for two decades.

Double pork chop with caramelized apple and garam masala, goose terrine with pears and pistachios, or gently braised spiced pumpkin with cardamom, turmeric and chili.

Gaston Huet introduced biodynamics in the late 1980s; the domaine has been Demeter-certified since 1993. Since 2020, the wines have been overseen by Benjamin Joliveau, a native of Vouvray. Whether a vintage yields a moelleux is decided by the weather.