Le Mont Moelleux 1ère Trie 2016

A nobly sweet wine of robust presence, whose bouquet keeps evolving in the glass. It opens with spicy, toasty notes of nuts, Montélimar nougat and roasted almonds, before dried fruits take over: pears, quinces, apricots and a few greengages. Candied orange peel, dried figs and hazelnut brioche round out this nose.

Le Mont lies on the Première Côte in Vouvray, directly above the historic tuffeau cellars of Domaine Huet. Gaston Huet secured the plot in 1957. Stony, clay-poor soils over limestone here shape intensely mineral wines that gain length and finesse with age.

100 percent Chenin Blanc, known in Vouvray as the grape of the moonlight. A Moelleux 1ère Trie is only made in exceptional years, since it is the weather, not the winemaker, that decides whether botrytis develops; harvesting is done selectively by hand in successive passes. Ageing takes place in neutral vessels in the deep rock-cut cellars at a constant temperature. 12.0% ABV. Cellar master Benjamin Joliveau, a native of Vouvray, has been responsible for the wines since 2020.

Dense, with high viscosity and great complexity. Fruit currently takes the lead: candied fruit, raisins, dried figs and dried apple rings. The ripe, lively acidity works in fine structure in the background, and the tannins equip the wine for a long life. Firm pressure, fresh drinkability, immense tension and a finish with epic persistence.

For dessert, apple tart; otherwise a robust blue cheese or liver sausage on bread.

Domaine Huet has farmed biodynamically since the late 1980s and has been fully Demeter-certified since 1993. This wine is among those that established the worldwide reputation of the great nobly sweet Vouvrays.