Richard Kelley: definitive guide to the wines of the Loire Valley

Guide to the Loire regions

Vouvray

Grower Profiles

Domaine Huet

Vintages - 1960 to 1999
For interest, the harvest dates, where available, have been included here. Prior to 1945 these were supplied by Monsieur Alliet, an elderly vigneron in Vouvray. Those post war were lifted from Madame Huet’s own Livre de Cuisine, a diary that details lunches prepared for the vendangeurs. From the 1950s onwards, I have endeavoured to add in a list of the wines that are believed to have been produced from the different vineyards each vintage, although there may be some omissions here still. The date of 1919 as a starting point, rather than 1928 when the domaine was purchased, is significant in that this is the oldest wine resting in the caves at Huet.

1960
Average year producing large yields.

1961
Whilst three different sweet wines were made, 1961 is a quintessential vintage for Demi-Sec. The yields on the sweet wines averaged around 30hl/ha and were harvested as part bunches rather than single berries. This is more of a passerillage year as the wind kept the grapes dry and aided their desiccation. The harvesting commenced on 9^th October.
Le Clos de Bourg Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Mont Moëlleux
Le Mont Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie

1962
Like 1961, this remains a great vintage for drier styles rather than Moelleux. The harvest commenced on the 18^th October.
Vouvray Pétillant Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux

1963
A poor vintage.

1964
A wide range of styles were made with 1964 recognised as the best sweet wine vintage of the decade. Harvesting commenced on October 12^th.
Vouvray Pétillant Sec
Vouvray Pétillant Demi-Sec
Vouvray Mousseux Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux
Le Mont Moëlleux

1965
Acceptable vintage for sec.

1966
Notably a vintage of variable quantity along the Loire . Generally light wines produced in Touraine, although Huet did manage to produce a little moëlleux.

1967
Not the spectacular vintage that distinguishes Sauternes. The harvest commenced on 14^th October.
Vouvray Mousseux Sec
Vouvray Demi-Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux

1968
Unsuccessful…

1969
A small vintage and somewhat overshadowed by the greater reputation of both 1970 and 1971.
Vouvray Pétillant Sec
Vouvray Pétillant Brut
Vouvray Pétillant Demi-Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux
Le Clos de Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie

1970
Harvest commenced on 16^th October. A range of styles was produced, although it is more distinguished elsewhere than in Vouvray, possibly due to an outbreak of grey or black rot prior to harvest. At an average of 45hl/ha, it was a big vintage.
Vouvray Mousseux Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie

1971
This is a very great and underestimated vintage at Huet and compares stylistically and in quality to 1959. It also happened to be Noël’s first vintage at the domaine, albeit informally. He spent the harvest as a vendangeur. He recalls a very concentra ted harvest with naturally high acid and a récolte of an average 18hl/ha. The sweet wines were all made with completely botrtyised berries. The harvest commenced on October 15^th. A complete range of table wines were made this vintage. It is without question the best vintage of the decade.
Le Clos du Bourg Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Mont Moëlleux
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie

1972
A bumper crop produced high acid wines which lacked structure or longevity. Only sec and sparkling wines produced this year, although Noël was satisfied with the quality of the pétillant.
Le Clos du Bourg Sec

1973
A big, dilute vintage producing low acid wines without any botrytis. Harvesting commenced on 17^th October. This is not an exceptional vintage and the wines are unlikely to improve further.
Vouvray Mousseux Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Mont Moëlleux

1974
It’s interesting to note that a downturn in economic or political stability often coincides with a run of poor vintages: the Great Depression of the early 1930s is directly in line with a run of dreadful vintages - 1930, 1931 and 1932 - throughout France. The oil crisis of 1974 and the resulting downturn in international commerce for the rest of the decade signalled the start of a difficult eight year period for Domaine Huet. This was a year of high yields and best described by Noël as ‘bad’. Only sparkling wines produced.

1975
An average year with low yields. Sparkling, sec and demi-sec were produced.
Vouvray Mousseux Sec

1976
The first year that Noël took over control of the cellar from his father-in-law. This is a distinguished vintage elsewhere in the Loire (and beyond) remembered for the long, hot summer and conditions of drought. But at Huet it’s nothing better than an average year. A full range of wines was produced, including sparkling, although around two-thirds were moëlleux from botrytised grapes. They elected to harvest late, however, and were caught out by falling acidity and unexpected rain. The sweet wines are mainly botrytis affected. By Noël’s own admission, the wines at Foreau are better this vintage.
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux

1977
Like 1972 and 1974. Only pétillant and a small amounts of sec were produced in the 1977, 1978 and 1979 vintages. A year that suffered from frost and an attack from a flock of starlings that counted for an estimated 16 tonnes of grapes.

1978
An average vintage with a small crop. Spring was kind, but rain disrupted the flowering. The harvest occurred from mid October through to the middle of November.
Le Mont Sec

1979
An average year with rain in spring and during the harvest. This was a high acid year and the wines were all directed towards the production of sparkling. Much of the crop consisted of green, unripe fruit and these were left unpicked.
Vouvray Pétillant Demi-Sec

1980
A dreadful vintage with six weeks of rain leading up to the harvest. A small crop of very high acid wines capable of producing only sec and a little demi-sec. The harvest was very late; between the 3^rd and 16^th November. One wine designated vin de glace was picked in the snow on the 11^th November and bottled separately, although don’t be confused by the ‘ice wine’ designation. No sparkling wines this year either.
Le Haut Lieu ‘Vin de Glace’
Le Clos du Bourg Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec

1981
A small crop this season due to frost on the 4^th April attacking the new buds. This is a vintage but liked by Noël. There was a little pétillant produced, along with sec and demi-sec.
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec

1982
Despite the high yields this is a very good vintage with excellent balance and ageing potential. It could have been an excellent vintage, but any sweet wine production was thwarted by rain during the harvest. Only sec and demi-sec were produced. The wines are still in very good condition.
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec

1983
Another wet year which resulted in a large crop, but there were some excellent sparkling wines produced. The table wines display and lovely nervous acidity. Noël remembers this vintage as the one and only time he used anti-botrytis sprays in the vineyard, which only served to delay the ripening. He sees this moment as the catalyst for his future conversion to biodynamic farming.
Vouvray Mousseux Brut
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Mont Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec

1984
A normal yield but this was a vintage with delayed maturity caused by a wet start to the season. The summer was dry, but rains arrived again in September and it was a late and wet harvest, only commencing at the start of November. Only pétillant and sec produced.
Le Haut Lieu Sec

1985
This is peculiar vintage. The spring of 1985 was unusually dry and there is a common theme throughout the appellation in that the blocked maturity meant that the wines have remained muted and have never really opened up. According to Noel this is also true of the wines of Philippe Foreau. Conditions were good from the middle of August right through until November. It was the first vintage since 1973 that any moëlleux was produced at Huet.
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux
Le Mont Moëlleux
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie

1986
This is remembered as a very difficult growing season with a huge storm compounding problem of rot close to harvest. The resulting wines are good if not exceptional. Yields were slightly higher than normal and it was possible this vintage to produce a full range of styles.
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux

1987
A big vintage (55hl/ha) resulting from a difficult growing season with rain in the spring and during the harvest. The pétillant Sec is actually a blend of two vintages – 1987 (about 85%) and 1991. The 1987 wine was originally bottled as a sec in 1988, but Noel was never happy with the wines evolution. After the devastating 1991 vintage where due to the frost that blighted the Loire in this year, Noel decided to decant all the 1987 and blend with the miniscule (3hl/ha) 1991 harvest. The wine was bottled in 1992 as a full mousseux, but the passage of time has seen the CO2 dissipate to that of a pétillant. Vouvray Pétillant Brut
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec

1988
A great vintage, producing archetypal Vouvray, although somewhat overlooked by the reputation of 1989 and 1990. It was a very small vintage (20hl/ha) although a range of table wines were produced. The success of the year, however, is the demi-sec, the best since 1971 and still in pristine condition due to his notable acidity. There were no sparkling wines produced this vintage. Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux is a special bottling in magnum for the 7eme Paulée Vin de Pays de Loire, 13 mars 1989. They were commissioned in a special bottle by George Jalleret of the hotel-restaurant Grand Monarque in Chartres. The analysis here suggests that it could have been labelled as a 1ere trie, although there was more passillerage than botrytis this vintage.
Vouvray Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Clos de Bourg Moëlleux (magnum)

1989
An exceptional vintage, comparable in quality to 1947. A mild winter and warm spring led to early budding and flowering was three weeks ahead of normal. A token sec and demi-sec were made, but this is a year for sweet wines. Noël states that if a vigneron were to prepare a document which stated the ideal conditions for the season, then this would be the model (on the basis that you wanted to make sweet wines every year, of course). Coming after such a dearth of sweet wine vintages (one has to go back to 1971 to find anything even remotely worthy), this year was met with much international excitement.

The harvest followed a hot and perfect summer, with a nominal 10mm of rain falling each month. Picking started at the end of September and extended into early November. The conditions were such that there was never any hurry to bring in the crop. This is the last time that a harvest extended into November at the domaine; something that Noël directly attributes to global warming.

Not only is 1989 of the highest possible quality, the yields were also bountiful at between 40 and 45hl/ha; remarkable considering the harvest consisted mainly of desiccated berries, although this vintage delivered the first ever release of the now legendary Cuvée Constance, in honour of Gaston’s mother. The 1989 consists of the first and last pressings of the Le Mont 1ere Trie, blended with the two experimental blends, detailed below. There was very little botrytis this vintage due to the hot and dry conditions, however Cuvée Constance is harvested, at 5hl/ha, from berries affected only by noble rot. The cuvée ‘Biodynamic’ was Noël’s first experimental wine made from vineyards that were at that stage still in conversion, whilst ‘Temoins’ was the ‘reference’ bottling to the biodynamic experiment.
Vouvray Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Vouvray Demi-Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Mont Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Clos de Bourg ‘Biodynamic’
Le Clos de Bourg ‘Temoins’
Cuvée Constance

1990
Ever since the early 1990s, there has been numerous debates and taste-offs between Loire lovers to try and establish which of the two years - 1989 or 1990 - would prove to be the better vintage. Both are superlative sweet wine years, although the conditions leading up to harvest, along with the resulting wines could not have been more different. Whilst 1989 is a distinctly passillerage year, 1990 was distinguished by the arrival of botrytis. Neither before or since has Noël seen such an expression of noble rot in the vines at Huet. All the 1ere Trie wines are 100% botrytis affected and as a result there was no Cuvee Constance produced this year; being little or no distinction between the style and quality of these three wines. As with 1989, a nominal sec exists, and the yields for the two vintages are also comparable.

Flowering was early, but uneven and there were drought conditions during the summer. The hot summer was broken by humid conditions in the early mornings during September and October, ensuring that noble rot set in and quickly took hold of the grapes.

Twenty years on, the debate as to which is the greater vintage continues. Whilst the 1989s are still youthful in both appearance and their evolution, the 1990s have developed much quicker, the heavy botrytis character ensuring that the wines have taken on a deep appearance.

For Noël (and me) the 1989 is the better year, with the wines still in a state of adolescence. Whilst the 1990s are hedonistic, they are probably at their peak, although their plateau of drinkability will be a long and very enjoyable one. Here, lessons can be learnt from the great 1947 vintage, where the appearance is also profound, although the wines have never shown any sign of falling apart.

It should also be noted that 1990 vintage is significant for the domaine’s succession as a certified producer of biodynamic wines.
Vouvray Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Mont Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie

1991
A vintage decimated by frost. A hot summer was then spoilt by rain at harvest. With a yield of only 3hl/ha, and of an insignificant quality, that a proportion of the resulting sec was transformed into mousseux into the spring of 1992, both as a vintage bottling, but also as part of a greater blend with some 1987 sec.
Vouvray Pétillant Brut
Le Clos du Bourg Sec
Le Mont Sec

1992
The frost of 1991 ensured that the vines compensated heavily in 1992. This, combined with a poor, rainy September, resulted in heavy yields of between 60-65hl/ha. Picking started in the rain during the first week of October and it was a long and protracted harvest and the wines were widely condemned from the start. There was ample amounts of (good quality) base wine for pétillant this year, along with copious amounts of sec and demi-sec. Nearly twenty years on, these wines are now at their peak and are unlikely to improve any further.
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec

1993
A difficult vintage when even the dry wines were affected by noble rot. It was a vintage of two halves with the quality dictated by the decision of individual viticulteurs to pick before, or wait until after, the rain that split the harvest. This was a small to average crop (40hl/ha) and the wines have evolved very quickly, although have been (and will continue to be) preserved by their particularly high acidity. The Haut Lieu 1ere Trie is actually a blend of all three vineyards and was originally released as Cuvée Constance.
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Cuvée Constance

1994
This is another year beset by frosts in mid April, resulting in a very low yield of around 8hl/ha. The summer was good between June and mid August, but then rain arrived. As a result, Noël considers 1994 a very difficult vintage and is one he cares to forget. The wines are characterised by very deep colours; a function of very thick skins rather than any influence of botrytis or oxidation. The grapes themselves were not fully ripe; the effect of the frost delaying the flowering and retarding the maturation process. Only sec and demi-sec were produced. In many ways, Noël is the domaine’s worst possible salesman; he remembers only the conditions of the season rather than the resulting wine. For me, the 1994s present us with a true and honest example of the appellation, with the wines standing the test of time. They may not improve, but even Noël was surprised by their development when presenting the demi-sec at a tasting in Cape Town in 2004.
Le Mont Sec
Le Clos de Bourg Demi-Sec

1995
This vintage delivered a full range of styles from sparkling through to sweet. As with 1985, a dry spring blocked the maturity. The resulting wines are distinguished by the high levels of malic acidity which has helped to preserve them for the past decade and even now they are barely evolved and have a long life ahead of them. This is a very good year, with the wines comparable to the 1971, 1982, 1988 and 2002 vintages.
Vouvray Mousseux Brut
Vouvray Sec
Le Mont Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec
Le Mont Moëlleux
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Cuvée Constance

1996
Noël considers 1996 as a ‘classical’ vintage for Huet. Uneven in the early season, the weather picked up and the summer was very dry. Beneficial rain arrived in September and helped to swell the berries although drying winds prevented the arrival of botrytis. This was a very good year, producing sec, demi-sec and moëlleux from passerillage affected berries, although no pétillant was produced this vintage. Unusually for Vouvray, these wines were accessible from the start and have never really closed up. They are drinking well now and should continue to age and evolve. Yields averaged around 40hl/ha.
Le Mont Sec
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux
Le Mont Moëlleux
Le Mont Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie

1997
A difficult growing season that even saw snow for two days on the 7^th and 8^th May, followed by rains through to the middle of July. The summer arrived late with June being very wet, but the weather was then glorious. The harvest was conducted over two separate periods: the first, in September, requiring a derogation from the authorities. The picking stopped between the first week of October and the 13^th, but then continued in glorious conditions right through until the end of the month. The yields averaged 28hl/ha and they were able to produce some very good, high acid, base wine for sparkling, plus a full range of sec, demi-sec and moëlleux, the latter produced only botrytis affected fruit. These wines are drinking well now, but will continue to develop.
Vouvray Pétillant Brut
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux
Le Mont Moëlleux
Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Mont Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Le Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie
Cuvée Constance

1998
This is an ordinary year producing lower than average (30hl/ha) yields. A mild spring was tempered with rain and frost ensuring uneven ripening. The cool conditions of June meant flowering was difficult. August was good, but the grapes were harvested in early October in poor conditions. There was a significant quantity of (very good) pétillant produced, along with sec and demi-sec which are drinking well now, but unlikely to improve much further.
Vouvray Mousseux Brut
Vouvray Mousseux Demi-Sec
Pétillant Brut Réserve
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Sec
Le Mont Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Sec

1999
Despite a promising start to the season, 1999 was a year disrupted by black rot following the rains of mid September and it was necessary to eliminate 25% of the crop in the vineyard. There were large volumes of pétillant produced this vintage. Undistinguished.
Vouvray Pétillant Brut
Le Haut Lieu Sec
Le Mont Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Sec
Le Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec
Le Mont Demi-Sec
Le Mont Moëlleux

Domaine Huet
L’Echansonne
11/13 rue de la Croix Buisée
T: + 33 2 47 52 78 87
F: + 33 2 47 52 66 74
contact@huet-echansonne.com
www.huet-echansonne.com