Huet & Foreau Sale 1-9-24

 
Vouvray: one of the world’s most complex, age-worthy, terroir-driven, aromatically intense, and praised white wines. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more wildly expressive and flexible grape than the Chenin Blanc that composes practically all white wines from Vouvray. Chenin from Vouvray is esteemed for its profundity at all sweetness levels, from bone-dry (Sec), lightly- to medium-sweet (Demi-Sec), and dessert style (Moelleux).
 
Granted AOC status in 1936, this commune in the Loire Valley is home to two landmark estates that have endured since those early days, producing wonderful and empirically age-worthy wines not to be overlooked: Domaine Huet and Philippe Foreau, two of the finest producers within this glorious region in France.
 
Domaine Huet and Philippe Foreau offer the pinnacle of quality for the appellation (and therefore some of the best values in truly world-class wine) though their styles and approaches differ. So, how to choose between these two fabulous estates? Well, no real need as on our subscriber-sale, you’re welcome to mix and match between the two. But let’s explore the two.
 
Domaine Huet is the most sought-after Vouvray producer, at least according to Wine-Searcher data. This is one of France’s pioneers in biodynamic viticulture, modernizing only in the most conscientious way. Today, horses still plough between the rows of their three vineyards, considered some of the greatest in all of the Loire. These vineyards have very distinct personalities worth exploring. Essentially, Le Haut-Lieu is their most approachable, offering softer and younger-drinking wines. Le Mont is dense, chock-full of minerals (or should we say chalk-full?), and the most age-worthy, per insiders. Clos du Bourg lies somewhere in between the others in terms of youthful approachability and minerality. Gaston Huet, the estate’s famous winemaker for 55 years, considered this to be the greatest vineyard in Vouvray.
 
In the winery, the recipe remains relatively simple. Fermentation takes place half in stainless steel, half in old oak, without malolactic fermentation. After only six months, the wines are bottled and then laid to age in a cellar dug from tuffeau rock, no air conditioning required. From here the Huet work is done: the rest is up to nature, and what eventually tastes like divine intervention. Few producers anywhere in the world make better off-dry to sweet white wines than Domaine Huet, except perhaps Philippe Foreau.
 
Just down the narrow, winding street from Domaine Huet is Domaine du Clos Naudin, known better by the name of its third-generation winemaker, Philippe Foreau. Foreau’s grandfather founded the estate in 1923. It is a small domaine with about 11 acres of Chenin Blanc in the northeast corner of Vouvray (and entirely in the Le Mont terroir). The vineyards, the main two being Les Perruches and Les Ruettes, hold vines that average over 45 years in age in argile-silex (clay and flint) soil. The estate’s traditionally-made wines offer astonishingly aromatics with a remarkable ability to age. 
 
Stylistically, the estates differ most noticeably in the glass. Foreau crafts wines with a razor-sharp edge and more intense minerality at any given sweetness level compared to the rounder, richer wines of Huet. As a result, we often find that they require more time to come around in the cellar. Huet offers more opulent and flamboyant wines that are packed with fruit—they’re easy to love and the complexity is obvious, right in front of you to see. Both estates offer wines that will age for decades, especially in their demi-sec and moelleux styles.
 
No matter what you pick, you’re in for a treat—these are some very special wines.
 

 
Huet Wines In Stock Now:
 
Sec/Dry:
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $44.50, that’s $42.28 at 5% off and $40.05 at 10% off, 7 bottles in stock now
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 90 points “From the nine-hectare original vineyard of the Huet family, the 2016 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec shows a citrus color followed by an intense, fresh and chalky-mineral bouquet with lemon and some blossom aromas. Aged in demi-muids and bottled in April 2017, this is a medium-bodied, round, elegant, remarkably lush and delicate Chenin Blanc from calcareous clay soils. The residual sugar of seven grams per liter gives a beautiful exotic fruitiness and balance, the fine tannins a good structure. The 2016 is truly a pleasant Vouvray that already drinks perfectly.”
John Gilman 90 points “The 2016 Le Haut Lieu Sec from Domaine Huet is a pretty wine and much less powerful than the 2015 version. The wine offers up lovely youthful aromatics of quince, tart pineapple, chalky minerality, orange peel, lanolin, a whisper of the honeycomb to come with bottle age and a gently floral top note. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and nicely detailed, with good, but not great depth at the core, sound acids and very nice length and grip on the nascently complex finish. I like the shape of this wine very much, which does not have quite as much in reserve as many recent vintages of this bottling, but which has plenty of complexity and really impeccable balance. It may well age like the 1988 vintage here. 2017-2045.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $39, that’s $37.05 at 5% off and $35.10 at 10% off, 4 bottles in stock now
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 95 points “The deep brown clay soils of the Haut-Lieu plateau provide the typical fruitiness and freshness wonderfully in Huet’s 2019 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec… Delicate and linear on the palate, this is a pure, fresh, bone-dry, lean and textured, highly refined and perfectly interwoven Chenin with persistent purity, finesse, salty-mineral tension and very fine tannins. Highly finessed and so pure and vivacious! This is a chalky picture-book Haut-Lieu that can age for many years, even though it is already dangerously seductive! …the 2019 is possibly the finest, most delicate and elegant I’ve had in recent years, at least at this early stage. A terrific and buoyant Vouvray that any Chenin lover should try—or, better yet, cellar!”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $41.90, that’s $39.81 at 5% off and $37.71 at 10% off, 9 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 94 points “Green plum and verbena notes lead the way for now, with a flash of quinine on the finish. This is juicy, but still a bit compact overall, with the core of ample pear, quince and ginger flavors in reserve. Just wait for everything to knit together and stretch out, as the purity and length are there. Best from 2018 through 2028.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $41.90, that’s $39.81 at 5% off and $37.71 at 10% off, 8 bottles in stock now
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 96 points “White flowers, pineapple and just-ripe pear combine in the 2020 Le Mont Sec from Huet, which offers just enough youthful puppy fat on the concentrated midpalate before finishing with mouthwatering acidity providing precision and line. It delivers intensity of fruit, yet it’s light on its feet. Fine phenolics offer a delicate but self-assured sense of structure and poise. Delightfully balanced, and better a day after opening.”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 95 points “The only dry wine from the vintage is the 2020 Vouvray Le Mont Sec, whose tank sample shows a classy, pure, precise and chalky/lemony bouquet with bright and perfectly healthy fruit and some herbal as well as yeasty aromas. On the palate, this is a dense, fabulously juicy, fruity and elegant Chenin whose immediate attraction and pure finesse initially reminds me of Riesling, whereas the texture is too rich and the salty and finely tannic finish too intense and powerful for Riesling. With more aeration, the Le Mont gets more and more intense and complex but also, tannic-wise, more wild. The 2020 has great tension, energy and grip and is highly promising.”
 
Demi-Sec:
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $39, that’s $37.05 at 5% off and $35.10 at 10% off, 25 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 96 points “This delivers a beautiful display of purity and grace, with creamed Jonagold apple, star fruit, white peach and chamomile notes flowing seamlessly, backed by wet stone and fresh verbena accents. Subtle but persistent energy ripples through the very long finish. Drink now through 2035.”

Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $39, that’s $37.05 at 5% off and $35.10 at 10% off, 19 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 96 points “This broad, striking white is elegant and rich with complexity, featuring green melon, yellow fig, ginger and verbena notes, underscored with heather, stone, flint and spice details. Offers great energy and tension, showcasing expert craftsmanship. Drink now through 2036.”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 95-96 points “The 2020 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Demi-Sec is clear, pure, subtle, deep and fresh, with highly refined chalky/sandy lemon aromas. Rich and intense yet silky textured and refined on the concentrated palate, this is a juicy, highly elegant, perfectly balanced, persistently salty and mouth-salivating Haut-Lieu with very fine tannins and a long, firm and pretty powerful but elegant and complex finish. Still more stringent than the Le Mont Demi-Sec in the beginning, but after aeration, this is not just a greatly finessed Chenin but one of the finest Haut-Lieu’s I have tasted from Huet.”
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 95 points “The 2020 Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec is made in a perfumed, floral style, offering aromas of pear, orange citrus, white flowers and agave nectar. There’s a sense of effortlessness about this wine, like floating along on a cloud of Chenin Blanc with nowhere to be in any hurry. And yet there’s a real tension and poise on the finish…”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Clos du Bourg 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $39, that’s $37.05 at 5% off and $35.10 at 10% off, 15 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 95 points “Gorgeous, with creamy-edged nectarine, yellow and green apple, pear and quince flavors that are brightly defined from start to finish, flecked with verbena and honeysuckle hints and backed by a off-dry edge on the finish. Stays fresh and pure throughout. Tempting now but there’s no rush. Drink now through 2032.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Clos du Bourg 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $44, that’s $41.80 at 5% off and $39.60 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 97 points “Drinking the 2020 Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec is like taking your shoes off at the end of a long day of walking and soaking them in warm water: there’s just satisfaction and relaxation. The 2020 has a sense of volume but not weight, filling the mouth with depths of pure fruit before the acid pours forth like a canal lock being opened. You can expect a hint of spice and crème caramel alongside apple and florals. I am utterly seduced.”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 95 points “…this is a rich and powerful yet elegant and persistently salty Chenin with tension, grip and a sustainable, highly promising finish. The 2020 Clos du Bourg pairs juiciness with finesse and purity with complexity.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont 2015 750ml Displayed Price: $44.50, that’s $42.28 at 5% off and $40.05 at 10% off, 32 bottles in stock now
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 96 points “The 2015 Vouvray Le Mont Demi-Sec is deep, rich and flinty on the nose, with caramel and vegetable flavors indicating a great complexity. Full-bodied, dense and powerful, this is highly complex and persistent, yet refreshing and transparent Chenin with a juicy fruit and lots of grip, energy and tension. Rather demure at the moment, this enormously structured wine has a great aging potential and I recommend to store it for 6-10 years, at least.”
John Gilman 95 points “The 2015 Le Mont Demi-Sec from Domaine Huët is an outstanding young wine, with even more depth and potential than the superb Le Haut Lieu Demi. The bouquet is bottomless, delivering scents of pineapple, sweet quince, incipient notes of honey, chalky minerality, a touch of lanolin, floral tones redolent of buttercups and lovely, esthery citrus elements in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, beautifully balanced and displays stunning depth at the core, with lovely acidity (particularly for the vintage!), great focus and grip and a very, very long, primary and exceptional finish. This does not have the backend cut or grip of a vintage such as 2007 or 2008, but it is going to be a great example of Domaine Huët Demi-Sec. It is deceptively easy to drink today, but its true apogee is at least a decade or more out from the vintage! 2016-2075.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $41.90, that’s $39.81 at 5% off and $37.71 at 10% off, 4 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 95 points “This tilts toward the flattering side of off-dry, showing a plump feel to the core of creamed pear, white peach and yellow apple fruit. Lovely verbena, honeysuckle and mineral accents keep this balanced and driven, with a long finish that lets the fruit echo. Drink now through 2032.”
 
Moelleux:
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu 2015 750ml Displayed Price: $39, that’s $37.05 at 5% off and $35.10 at 10% off, 3 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 95 points “Offers a big, broad feel, with layers of glazed pear, apple and peach falling over each other, backed by fresh ginger, honeysuckle and quince notes. Everything pulls together through the finish, with green tea accents and racy minerality providing the foil. Drink now through 2035.”
John Gilman 94 points “The 2015 Le Haut Lieu Moelleux from Domaine Huët is a superb wine in the making, with its glaze of botrytis beautifully managed and the wine showing excellent potential on both the nose and palate… This will be all apricot, honey and tea leaves in the future, but it is so good to drink out of the blocks, that it is going to be hard not to open bottles in its more exotic youthful period. 2016-2085.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $39, that’s $37.05 at 5% off and $35.10 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 95 points “Gorgeous crystallized ginger, dried quince, glazed pear and warm persimmon notes are seamlessly interwoven here, gliding through a lengthy finish that picks up a lilting green tea accent. Frankly off-dry but wonderfully pure. Drink now through 2035.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu 2018 750ml Displayed Price: $29, that’s $27.55 at 5% off and $26.10 at 10% off, 6 bottles in stock now
Antonio Galloni 94 points “The 2018 Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu is a gorgeous, exotic wine. Jasmine, lemon oil and ginger lead into a core of green orchard fruit as the 2018 shows off its considerable charms. A wine of absolutely exquisite beauty, the 2018 is precise and sculpted, with its sweetness very nicely integrated.”
Jason Wilson-Vinous 94 points “A perfect example of how 2018 wanted to be sweet and not dry. Harvested late, this sweet wine has 48 grams per liter of residual sugar. Beautiful pear and quince, as well as white blossoms on the nose. Pretty and complex on the palate, with lots of finesse and verve, this is a shapely, stunning sweet wine.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $44, that’s $41.80 at 5% off and $39.60 at 10% off, 27 bottles in stock now
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 96 points “It might be delicate but the 2020 Le Haut-Lieu Moelleux is also rather succulent, coating the mouth with its sweet embrace. A combination of white flowers and nectarine creates an appealing perfume. There’s a sense of energy that runs through the wine, providing a sense of direction and purpose. The core of sweetness (50–60g/L) doesn’t tip over into lushness but is held together by its acidity and structure.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $59, that’s $56.05 at 5% off and $53.10 at 10% off, 32 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 97 points “A stunner, with beautiful pear, green fig, yellow apple and quince notes that are creamy and flirtatiously sweet, yet seamless and refined in feel. The extremely long finish lets honeysuckle and verbena notes dance throughout, with a light echo of white ginger at the very end. Best from 2020 through 2040.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Mont 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $49, that’s $46.55 at 5% off and $44.10 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 96 points “Bright, even exuberant in feel, with a parade of Jonagold apple, green melon, Bosc pear and quince flavors streaming through, gilded with heather, honeysuckle and verbena notes on the long, lithe finish. Remarkably elegant despite the off-dry style. Drink now through 2035.”

Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Mont 2017 750ml Displayed Price: $49, that’s $46.55 at 5% off and $44.10 at 10% off, 7 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 96 points “A beauty, with an inviting display of succulent yellow apple, green plum, pear, persimmon and quince flavors that ripples lengthily through the finish, while light verbena, ginger and honeysuckle notes dart around. A long green tea echo runs through the finish. Shows terrific range and purity, with the sweetness easily harnessed for balance. Best from 2019 through 2040.”
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “The 2017 Le Mont Moelleux shows the classic progression from the vibrancy of the Sec to the more layered, slightly honeyed Demi-Sec to this richer, sweeter, yet no less impressive Moelleux release. Brilliant notes of quince, honeyed tangerines, apple peel, and orange liqueur all emerge from this full-bodied, layered Vouvray that has a stacked, dense, concentrated mid-palate, high yet integrated acidity, impeccable balance, and a great finish. I couldn’t pick a favorite between this and the Demi-Sec, and both are brilliant wines. Smart readers will buy a handful of bottles of each (a six pack of each is what I intend to do) for drinking over the coming 2-3 decades.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Mont 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $46, that’s $43.70 at 5% off and $41.40 at 10% off, 21 bottles in stock now
Decanter 96 points “Here is a masterful sweet wine endowed with 49g/L of residual sugar that offers an almost unprecedented delicacy for the estate that contrasts with its powerful aromatics resonating with pineapple, passionfruit and apricot, along with a seductive floral component. On the palate, the rich liqueur character retains impressive balance and restrained power, combining unctuousness and chalky acidity. Best to cellar for 10 to 40 years.”
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 96 points “…the 2020 Le Mont Moelleux is understated, which is highly attractive. There’s finesse and elegance to this sweeter style (49g/L). Delicate exotic characters such as dried papaya and pineapple sit alongside floral notes. While there’s excellent concentration, this remains delicate. The finish is appetizing thanks to fine acidity and phenolic structure, which hold the mouth reassuringly on the finish. An excellent wine that offers real drinkability in youth thanks to its appealing primary fruit, but there’s no hurry at all to drink…”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 96 points “The 2020 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux offers a deep, complex and concentrated bouquet of highly ripe and candied fruits yet with this coolish shimmering lime zest probably coming from the pebbly silex and deep green clay soil of this nine-hectare “grand cru.” Full-bodied, rich and round on the palate, this is a dense, viscous, mouth-filling, lush and mellow yet also tight and piquant Le Mont whose complexity is lifted by dramatic drive and tension and carried to a long and salivating finish by lingering salinity. You can never go wrong in buying a Le Mont and in particular this one. This is a great effort from a very particular vintage that forced the harvest team to make the strictest selections. It was well worth the effort.”
Wine Spectator 96 points “A harmonious white, with vivid complexity, offering glazed yellow fig, persimmon and Bosc pear notes intertwined with ginger, chamomile, marzipan and heather details. Notes of spice and honeysuckle waft on the long finish. Drink now through 2036.”
 
Moelleux Première Trie (“First Selection”):
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Première Trie Le Haut-Lieu 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $59, that’s $56.05 at 5% off and $53.10 at 10% off, 12 bottles in stock now
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 96 points “The 2020 Le Haut Lieu Moelleux Première Trie is pretty gorgeous with its sweet embrace (71g/L residual sugar) caressing the palate like a silky-smooth velouté. It sits calmly in the mouth, showing the typical fruit-forward character of the site, all oranges, chamomile and violets. The deeply satisfying finish provides the merest of grips, and fresh acid makes your mouth water. Already delicious in its youth, this wine has the concentration, acidity and sweetness to age gracefully, as Huet fans will know well.”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 95-96 points “…opens with clear and concentrated but also lush fruit and floral and chalky aromas, with lemon confit and fig mustard. Very elegant and even playful on the palate, with finely vivacious acidity, this full-bodied, silky and salty-piquant Haut-Lieu is beautiful in its terroir expression that favors a fruitier, fresher and more elegant style that is impossible not to like. Some of our readers might find it too vivacious and salty (while looking for hedonistic sweet wines), but as a critic, I am totally fine with this style. The aging potential should be great. Tasted in May 2021.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Première Trie Clos du Bourg 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $59, that’s $56.05 at 5% off and $53.10 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 96 points “This is ripe and broad, taking a slightly more power-driven approach, with a mix of tropical mango and papaya fruit, backed by orchard fruit accents of yellow apple and peach. The long, heather honey–accented finish has light piecrust and crystalized ginger hints. Best from 2020 through 2035.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Première Trie Clos du Bourg 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 9 bottles in stock now
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 97 points “Succulent yet refined, the 2020 Clos du Bourg Première Trie Moelleux offers elegance and focus despite its sweetness. There’s no sense of heaviness nor unctuosity (yet there’s 93g/L residual sugar). Expect pineapple and smoky notes, florals and apple strudel, along with masses of concentration and impeccable balance. A real delight that has plenty of drinkability even in infancy but will evolve over the coming decades.”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 96-97 points “…even though the 2020 Clos du Bourg asks for patience, it already indicates a terribly concentrated bouquet of lemon chutney and humid chalk. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, rich and juicy, very elegant and generous Chenin from this ancient six-hectare grand cru (one of the oldest in France, as the domaine assures). It is immediately attractive, stimulatingly piquant and nourishes hope for a great future. The potential is doubtlessly there, but 7-10 years of our patience is presumed.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Première Trie Le Mont 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 97 points “The 2016 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie opens with a very clear, deep and flinty/herbal bouquet of ripe concentrated stone fruits intermixed with chalky/smoky aromas, very complex and truly exciting! Light, fresh and tensioned on the palate, that is very pure and salty but also tight and concentrated. The 2016 Le Mont reveals crystalline acidity, delicate but serious tannin grip and a long, complex, stimulating finish. This is Chenin Blanc full of energy and aging potential, provided with concentration, lingering salinity and vibrancy. This is a fascinating Le Mont, surely the top wine of Huet’s excellent 2016 series…”
Wine Spectator 96 points “Juicy in feel, with an intense beam of glazed peach, dried apricot, fresh ginger and heather honey notes, backed by baked mirabelle plum accents and a flash of almond cream on the long, rich finish. A wonderful balancing act, keeping the exotic fruit and sweetness fresh and delineated. Best from 2020 through 2035.”
 
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Première Trie Le Mont 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $66, that’s $62.70 at 5% off and $59.40 at 10% off, 19 bottles in stock now
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 97-98 points “The intensely yellow colored 2020 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie is highly concentrated and complex on the nose that exhibits candied lemon zest and chutney aromas along with calcareous and walnut notes. Sweet (really sweet!) yet refined and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, rich and generous yet piquant and firmly structured, greatly tensioned and salty 1ère Trie with pineapple flavors on the finely tannic and energetic, very sustainable finish. The 2020 has great aging potential, and I would never serve it too young…”
Wine Spectator 97 points “Showy but still elegant and refined, this beautiful wine binds together yellow fig compote, glazed white peach and crystalized ginger notes with details of green tea, blanched almond, verbena and honeysuckle. Harmonious, with tremendous length, kept lively by vivid acidity. Drink now through 2040.”
 
Cuvée Constance is only produced in the very best years—about 2-3 times per decade. Made from botrytized grapes, this is “nectar of the gods” type stuff, on par with Château d’Yquem yet rarer and less than half the average price.
Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance 2015 500ml Displayed Price: $159, that’s $151.05 at 5% off and $143.10 at 10% off, 2 500ml-bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 99 points “Stunning from the start, with a silky and refined feel despite the panoply of dried quince, fig, pear and apricot flavors that are exotic in nature. Lovely green tea, orange blossom and persimmon notes fill in the background. Obviously sweet, but with persistent dry almond and orange extract details that lend latent tension through the seamless and nearly endless finish. The first Cuvee Constance bottling since the 2009 vintage. Drink now through 2060.”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 96 points “Rarely produced and selected from the vineyards Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont and Clos du Bourg, Huet’s 2015 Vouvray “Cuvée Constance” offers a deep, clear, intense and concentrated nose of ripe stone fruits, peanut butter cookie, spicy, earthy-mineral and some volatile aromas. Sweet, salty, piquant and mineral with a firm structure and very elegant, concentrated, refined fruit, this is a sweet wine with great purity and mineral finesse on the very long, promising finish. The 2016 is still pretty sweet (142 grams of residual sugar) and should be cellared for at least two or three decades.”
John Gilman 98 points “I have been looking forward to the release of Domaine Huët’s 2015 Cuvée Constance ever since I tasted a year ago the rest of the stunning range of wines produced here in the vintage. It is a great vintage for Domaine Huët and the Cuvée Constance is everything one could hope for from the confluence of this great estate and a legendary vintage. The wine is still very youthful, but its ultimate brilliance is very easy to see, as the wine wafts from the glass in a celestial constellation of orange, fresh apricot, incipient tea leaves, a nice touch of soil, hints of lanolin, orange peel, barley sugar and a hint of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full and nascently complex, with laser-like focus, a bottomless core, great acids and marvelous balance on the very, very long, zesty and energetic finish. This is still a very young wine and will need years to start to show its secondary and tertiary layers of complexity, but they are lurking here and in the fullness of time, this will be breathtaking in its beauty. (Drink between 2025-2100).”
 
 

Foreau Wines In Stock Now:
 
Philippe Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux 2015 750ml Displayed Price: $66, that’s $62.70 at 5% off and $59.40 at 10% off, 12 bottles in stock now
Neal Rosenthal tasting note “The 2015 Moelleux is really a step up in concentration and complexity from the Sec and Demi-Sec. It is at this level where the ultimate potential of Vouvray begins to reveal itself. The dense aromas lean bitter, with notes of pear, pit fruits, and fresh honey. On the palate, the fruit is warm and leans toward plum and quince, with an undercurrent of sea foam and Indian spices. Wearing 70 grams of sugar, this wine’s intense minerality keeps it fresh and structured, which adds to its incredible persistence and surprisingly dry finish.”
 
Philippe Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux Réserve 2009 750ml Displayed Price: $89, that’s $84.55 at 5% off and $80.10 at 10% off, 7 bottles in stock now
David Schildknecht-Wine Advocate 97 points “What there was in this vintage of botrytis, Foreau reports, essentially went into his 2009 Vouvray Moelleux Reserve. Brown-spiced pear liqueur and quince preserves dominate the proceedings – wreathed in perfume of freesia and lily – and there are buoyancy and elegance, despite viscosity, enormous richness of texture and residual sweetness, that indeed point to the magic nobility rot can convey. Its sense of lift – when combined with luscious, still juicy suggestions of grapefruit and blood orange familiar from the corresponding demi-sec – wards off any risk of palate fatigue. Mysterious botrytis manifestations of stale bread, truffle, and white raisin emerge from the empty glass. This extraordinary achievement will stand with such past great Foreau moelleux reserves as 2005, 2003, and 1989-90 and is likely to merit 30 or more years of consideration. In direct comparison, what strikes one about the 2005 today is its more obvious sense of botrytis and its slightly diminished sense of acidity and lift. But it maintains the edge in sheer complexity.”
 
Philippe Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux Réserve 2015 750ml Displayed Price: $105, that’s $99.75 at 5% off and $94.50 at 10% off, 2 bottles in stock now
Neal Rosenthal tasting note “This wine is not made every year, but only in vintages that have the ultimate conditions for making sweet wines. In fact, this is the first Moelleux Reserve made by Foreau this decade. Weighing in at 120 grams of sugar, this wine shows unbelievable concentration. It is impossible to describe all the layers of dense flavor packed into the glass. The aromas are dense with a warm potpourri of plum, dried citrus, rose petals, and hints of sea water. The Moelleux Reserve is massive on the palate. Its glycerol texture plays perfectly with the wine’s intense mineral structure to create a fine silkiness. The potential and power of the wine seems to warm the juice from within, giving the wine a flavor of black cherry and fig. This wine is impressive in its youth, but will also ultimately reward those willing to squirrel it away for years, if not decades.”
Importer note “It is the rare vintage that is blessed with the conditions necessary for Foreau to release a Moelleux Réserve. Wines so declared frequently have levels of residual sugar that are in excess of 150 grams of residual sugar. It is not, however, simply the level of ripeness that creates the Moelleux Réserve; it is as much the conditions of the growing season that produce grapes that have a level of complexity and ripeness that demand this sort of classification. An error that many make in assessing and utilizing these wines is to consider the sugar quotient as a disqualifier for use of this wine during any stage of a meal. Our experience is such that these wines can marry well with a wide range of dishes served at the beginning, middle or end of a meal.”