About This Vineyard
Dating back to 1928, Domaine Huet is probably the leading name in the Loire appellation of Vouvray. They are well known as one of the early adopters of biodynamics, and have three key vineyards, with 35 hectares of organic vines in all. Le Mont is an 8 hectare vineyard with soils composed of pebbly clay and silica. Le Haut-Lieu is slightly bigger, with 9 hectares of clay/limestone soil that’s quite heavy. Le Clos du Bourg is a 6 hectare stone-walled Clos, located just above the church in Vouvray. It has a thin topsoil over a limestone base. The balance of the 35 hectares consists of small parcels in plots near these three vineyards.
The organic grapes are picked manually in two or three ‘tries’ (passages through the vineyard) in October and early November. Bunches are pressed intact, and gently; fermentation is in a mix of large and small oak barrels, and larger stainless steel tanks. Natural yeasts are used, along with those which are present in the winery; no cultured yeasts are introduced. Fermentation is ended (almost all the organic wines have some residual sugar; many have a lot) by racking the wine and adding a tiny amount of sulfur dioxide, which is the only chemical that is added. A light filtration is practised before bottling. These are serious age-worthy wines.
