Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 2018

A luscious sweet Chenin Blanc that brings together great complexity and sweetness without ever becoming heavy. The nose remains multi-layered: dark bread crust, shortcrust pastry and yeast baking, together with oriental spice from white pepper, coriander seed, saffron and turmeric. Peach, apricot and mirabelle plum appear fully ripe, at times candied, alongside pear and quince compote with a touch of cinnamon. Behind this lies a faintly smoky note of limestone and wet chalk, finishing with freshly crushed almonds, cinnamon blossom and coconut sugar.

Le Haut-Lieu, nine hectares on the Première Côte, was the vineyard with which Victor Huet began in Vouvray in 1928. The deep, calcareous clay makes the wines approachable and gives them texture, without losing the minerality drawn from limestone and clay.

Chenin Blanc, in Vouvray the grape of the moonlight. Whether a vintage yields a Moelleux is decided by the weather, not the winemaker: depending on the year, up to four bottlings can emerge from each vineyard, ranging from Sec through Demi-Sec and Moelleux to Moelleux 1ère Trie. Ageing takes place in neutral vessels in the deep rock-cut cellars at constant temperature. 13.0% ABV.

Beguiling, with a delicate touch of sugar, offset by a cool, linear minerality. The acidity keeps the wine moving steadily forward, and the sweetness never settles. On the finish, saffron and turmeric linger alongside the pear compote.

Sautéed veal sweetbreads with morel cream sauce, creamed porcini mushrooms with tagliatelle, or Alba truffle on poached egg with potato foam.

Gaston Huet introduced biodynamics as early as the late 1980s; the entire estate has been Demeter-certified since 1993, making it a biodynamic icon of the Loire. Since 2020, the wines have been overseen by cellar master Benjamin Joliveau, a native of Vouvray.