Le Mont sec 2022

The vineyard Le Mont is situated above the tufa stone caves and east of the Huet estate on the first plateau of Vouvray, the so-called Première Côte, and faces south. The vineyard was already mentioned in the 15th century and has been highly valued ever since. Like the other vineyards, Le Mont, with its nine hectares, is the sole property of the Huet estate and was acquired by Gaston Huet in 1957 as the last of the three vineyard sites. It has a topsoil several metres deep with a gravelly, partly fist-sized flint, known locally as Perron, and deep green clay. The base is formed by the typical Turonian tufa limestone.

The harvest began in 2022 on 8 September and ended six weeks later (the harvest workers, 24 of them this year, had never picked for such a long period before). Heat waves and drought led to very heterogeneous ripening of the grape material. This made it possible to produce all variants of Chenin Blanc from the base wine for pétillants through to 1er Trie. As usual, the grapes were meticulously sorted, pressed and spontaneously fermented during the many picking passes. Malolactic fermentation occurred only in exceptional cases and in individual barrels. The wine was aged in used demi-muids. The residual sugar in this 2022 wine is 5.7 grams.

Medium straw yellow

When tasting the 2022 Le Mont alongside the Chenins from the other two vineyard sites, it presents itself as absolutely terroir-typical. This means it appears noticeably more restrained, even shy, and moreover offers the characteristic dark smokiness from tufa and quartz. With air, it becomes more open, retaining the fine flint aroma whilst also displaying notes of violet, apple, apple skin, pear and quince.

On the palate, the 2022 Le Mont Sec is silky and juicy with great depth and substance. The Chenin is mouth-filling and powerful with distinct notes of sweet and tart cider apples and pears with their skins. Here one finds cider and perry notes. These are complemented by kumquats, spices and again the characteristic smoky note. It is a piquant, stony and mineral wine that tastes saline and finishes gracefully.