Domaine Huet – Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie 2016 – Loire France

Première Trie means the first pass through the vineyard, picking only the finest botrytised berries. Huet makes it just four ways — Sec, Demi-Sec, Moelleux, Moelleux Première Trie — and only in years that earn it. Le Mont is the flinty site, so this is sweetness held up by acidity rather than weight.

🍷 At a Glance

• Grape: 100% Chenin Blanc
• Appellation: Vouvray
• Vineyard: Le Mont, acquired by Gaston Huet in 1957 — around eight hectares of flinty ground
• Region: Loire Valley, France
• Vintage: 2016
• Producer: Domaine Huet
• Style: Moelleux Première Trie — sweet, from the first and most selective picking
• Estate: Around 30 hectares across three single-vineyard crus: Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont and Clos du Bourg
• Farming: Biodynamic — conversion begun in 1988 and certified in 1993, among the earliest anywhere
• Serving temperature: 8–10°C
• Sweetness: Sweet

👃 Tasting Notes & Experience

• Color: Bright gold
• Nose: Quince, pineapple and honey with the glaze botrytis brings, over orange blossom and citrus oils
• Palate: Sweet but not heavy — the sugar carried on Le Mont's acidity rather than sitting on it
• Structure: Deep minerality and real grip beneath the richness
• Finish: Long, vibrant and clean

Victor Huet was a Parisian restaurateur whose health drove him out of the city; he bought Le Haut-Lieu in 1928 and started again as a vigneron. His son Gaston ran the estate for fifty-five years, added Le Mont in 1957 and Clos du Bourg in 1963, and began converting to biodynamics in 1988 — certified in 1993, when even organic growers were regarded as eccentrics. Since 2002 the Hwang family have owned it, and Gaston's daughter-in-law's successors have kept the team largely intact. What sets Huet apart is that the three vineyards are never blended: Le Haut-Lieu's clay gives fruit and suppleness, Clos du Bourg gives balance, and Le Mont's flint gives the intensity and mineral drive that make a sweet wine like this one taste taut rather than cloying. Wines at this level age for decades.

❤️ Why We Love It

• Made only from the first, most selective picking, and only in years that allow it
• From a single flinty vineyard that keeps sweetness in tension
• Biodynamic since 1988, from arguably Vouvray's most famous name

🍽️ Food Pairing Ideas

• Roquefort and other blue cheeses
• Foie gras and rich pâtés
• Fruit tarts, or simply on its own after a meal

👤 Who This Wine Is For

✓ Drinkers who want sweetness with acidity holding it up
✓ Collectors laying down something that will run for decades
✕ Not a wine for anyone who avoids residual sugar entirely