2017 Domaine Huet, Vouvray Sec, Clos du Bourg, Loire Valley, France.
The Clos du Bourg Sec (dry) is a thrilling Chenin with a precise form and crisp detail, while still being gloriously generous with pretty white peach, fresh citrus, wet stones, a touch of saline and steely mineral intensity, making this Vouvray a great wine and highlights the class of its terroir. One of the most iconic wines of the Loire Valley, the Huet Vouvray is one of the most sought after and admired wines of the region, and this amazing dry version from the outstanding 2017 is a thrill in the glass. Since its founding in 1928, Vouvray’s Domaine Huet has been the standard-bearer for great, age-worthy Chenin Blanc, especially those of the late Gaston Huet, though the wines made now are sublime and wonderfully elegant, especially this Clos du Bourg Sec. Clos du Bourg, farmed since 1953, and purchased by the domaine in 1963, is one of the top sites, along with Le Mont and Huet’s original estate parcel Le Haut-Lieu, which started the legend back in 1928, these three vineyards are considered the Grand Crus of Vouvray and have a long history of producing great Sec, Demi-Sec, or Moelleux wines as well as a tiny amount of gorgeous late harvest sweet wine, the legendary Cuvée Constance, a magical botrytized dessert wine that rivals the world’s best and Huet does a fine sparkler. The famed Gaston Huet believed Clos du Bourg to be the greatest of all Vouvray vineyards, and certainly his favorite with the Première Côte’s shallowest and stoniest soils it produces wine of dramatic energy, mineral complexity and remarkable generous texture. American Anthony Hwang, from New York, purchased a majority stake in Huet back in 2002, and today his children reside at and direct the estate, while long time winemaker Jean-Bernard Bertholmé continues to craft the wines, as he’s done since 1979. The Clos du Bourg 2017 Sec coming from old vines set on calcareous soils is a riveting Chenin Blanc with mineral intensity, bright details and exceptional length, this is everything you’d want from a dry version of this grape with peach and citrus fruit, chalky stones and a delicate floral sense plus a waxy almost honeyed mouth feel. This is one of best young Vouvrays I’ve ever had and it should just get better and better with some age, drink this beauty over the next 3 to 5 years, and don’t miss out on these 2017 Huets!
($33 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

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