Le Haut-Lieu demi-sec 2018

Wine description for Le Haut-Lieu demi-sec 2018 by Huet

Colour & appearance

Sparkling golden yellow with a youthful sheen – a wine that announces in the glass it still has decades ahead of it.

Nose

Charming and multi-layered: honeydew melon, ripe pineapple and quince compote meet the sharpness of fresh grapefruit. Floral notes of acacia, elderflower and lilac intertwine with blossom honey, candied lemon peel and a hint of fresh ginger and coriander. Profound, refreshing, and only just beginning to unfold.

Palate

The elegant sweetness of the demi-sec is carried by a playful, invigorating acidity – accompanied by a tart grapefruit note and a saline pull that recalls the calcareous soils of Haut-Lieu. Fresh, youthful, with a tension that will not release this wine for a long time yet. Those opening it now should decant it and serve it in a large glass, not too chilled.

Finish

Long, saline, with a bitter grapefruit note and an aftertaste of honey and citrus – a finish that tastes more of the future than the present.

Terroir & origin

Le Haut-Lieu was Domaine Huet’s founding vineyard in 1928 – Victor Huet, a Parisian bistro owner with lungs damaged by war, purchased the site and laid the foundation of a legend. The deep, calcareous clay makes the wines of Haut-Lieu more accessible and fruitier than those from its sibling sites Le Mont and Clos du Bourg – without sacrificing the acidity and ageing potential for which Vouvray is renowned.

Grape variety & vinification

Chenin Blanc – known here as “the vine of moonlight” – delivers fruit and natural acidity in perfect balance. Domaine Huet has been working biodynamically since the late 1980s and has been Demeter-certified since 1993. The deep rock cellars beneath Vouvray serve as the winery’s cellar: constant temperature, neutral vessels, time. Cellar master Benjamin Joliveau, a native of Vouvray, has been responsible for the wines since 2020.

Food recommendations

The off-dry sweetness and acidity make this wine an ideal partner for oysters with grapefruit segments, pan-fried langoustines with lemon-ginger butter or a parsnip, Gorgonzola and fig gratin. It is also a revelation with Asian dishes featuring ginger and citrus.

Special characteristics

2018 is a vintage still at the beginning of its maturation – a wine that will be better in ten years’ time than it is today, and even better still in thirty. The demi-sec bottling from Le Haut-Lieu shows why Gaston Huet considered this site the most approachable of the three: fruit, freshness and a texture that lets you taste the limestone.