Domaine Huet : Le Haut-Lieu Première Trie Moelleux 2022

Characteristics and tasting notes for Le Haut-Lieu "Première Trie Moelleux" 2022

Tasting notes

Color
This white wine reveals a deeply intense golden hue, showing remarkable depth and visual concentration.

Nose
Powerful and captivatingly complex, the aromatic bouquet opens with notes of ripe fruit such as peach, apricot and pear, intertwined with hints of honey and candied fruit. Delicate floral touches, citrus notes like candied lemon zest, along with exotic nuances and beeswax, enrich this framework, underpinned by a fine minerality.

Palate
The palate reveals a silky, rich and rounded texture. The balance is masterful, pairing perfectly integrated sweetness with vibrant acidity that brings freshness and tension. The honey and candied fruit aromas linger at length, enhanced by hints of salted lemon and bitter almond. The finish, remarkably elegant, stands out for its persistence, precision and subtle salinity.

Food and wine pairing

This cuvée pairs wonderfully with seafood such as scallop carpaccio, roasted poultry with sweet spices, or exotic Asian cuisine. As for cheese, it beautifully complements blue cheeses or hard cheeses, while for dessert, it is an ideal match for caramelized fruit tarts. It can also be enjoyed on its own as an aperitif.

Service and storage

To reveal the full complexity of Le Haut-Lieu "Première Trie Moelleux" 2022, it is recommended to decant it a few hours before serving. With exceptional aging potential, this wine deserves to rest in the cellar for at least three to four years and can be enjoyed until at least 2052.

The excellence of Chenin Blanc on the legendary terroir of Vouvray

The estate

Founded in 1928 by Victor and Gaston Huet, Domaine Huet is a true institution of the Loire Valley. A pioneer of environmentally responsible viticulture, this thirty-hectare estate is renowned worldwide for its masterful expressions of Chenin Blanc. Now owned by Anthony Hwang, with his children Sarah and Hugo at the helm, the estate carries on a historic legacy of expertise. The wines, aged in traditional troglodyte cellars, precisely illustrate the richness and diversity of the appellation's terroirs.

The vineyard

The Haut-Lieu plot, the historic cradle of the estate, spans nine hectares at the heart of the Vouvray plateau. This distinctive terroir is characterized by deep brown clay soils mixed with flint and chalk fragments, resting on a bedrock of yellow tuffeau limestone. Cultivated according to biodynamic principles for many years, the vines thrive in a preserved ecosystem, yielding grapes of exceptional quality, hand-harvested with meticulous sorting on the vine.

The vintage

2022 was particularly marked by generous sunshine and intense heat. These favorable weather conditions promoted optimal berry ripening and the development of a fine concentration, allowing for harvests spread throughout September to gather grapes perfectly raisined or affected by botrytis.

Winemaking and aging

The winemaking process begins with a gentle, vertical pressing to delicately extract the aromatic palette. The juices are then fermented using indigenous yeasts, with no chaptalization, in half-barrels and tanks. After careful racking, the wine is aged in the estate's tuffeau troglodyte cellars, which provide ideal thermal conditions to stabilize its balance before bottling in the spring.

Grape variety

Chenin Blanc (100%).