Le Mont Moelleux 2022

Wine description for Le Mont Moelleux 2022 by Huet

Colour & appearance

An initial, promising golden yellow – the wine stands at the beginning of a very long life.

Nose

Everything that the Demi-Sec from this vineyard site promises is here one step more concentrated: crushed quartz rock, smoke, a dark, almost mystical undertone to which Le Mont has owed its voice for centuries. Behind this, flashes of kumquats, ripe apples and overripe pineapple emerge, along with curry leaves and apple skins.

Palate

Here the artistry of Huet reveals itself: 51 grams of residual sugar, almost twice as much as in the Demi-Sec – and yet the wine drinks tautly, as acidity and minerality elegantly frame the sweetness. Plenty of grip, clear phenolics, ripe fruit alongside bitter grapefruit, Seville orange and tobacco. Sweet, but never heavy.

Finish

Long and fascinatingly saline: flint and salt interplay, accompanied by a piquant aftertaste. Two decades of development can effortlessly be entrusted to this wine – probably more.

Terroir & origin

Le Mont faces south on the Première Côte of Vouvray, directly above the domaine’s historic tuffeau cellars. Nine hectares in sole ownership, mentioned as early as the 15th century and acquired by Gaston Huet in 1957. The topsoil is deep, interspersed with fist-sized flint (perron) in green clay, overlying Turonian limestone. The result: less immediate approachability than Haut-Lieu, but more stone, more length, demanding greater patience.

Grape variety & vinification

Pure Chenin Blanc, the “vine of moonlight”. Domaine Huet – Demeter-certified since 1993 and a pioneer of biodynamics in the Loire Valley – harvested exceptionally early in 2022 (8 September) over a period of six weeks. The numerous picking passes allowed meticulous sorting; fermentation was spontaneous, with maturation in used demi-muids. At Huet, Moelleux denotes 45 to 55 grams of residual sugar.

Food recommendations

The tension between sweetness and acidity loves spice and caramel: double pork chop with caramelised apple and garam masala, goose terrine with pears and pistachios, or gently braised pumpkin with cardamom, turmeric and chilli.

Special characteristics

The 2022 Moelleux bears the hallmark of an extreme vintage: heat and drought caused heterogeneous ripening, to which Huet responded with patience and selective harvesting in the vineyard. The result is a sweet Vouvray that already commands respect today – and whose finest decade still lies ahead.