Founded in 1928 by WW1 veteran Victor Huet. Gaston Huet, and then son-in-law Noel Pinguet carried the estate into the 21st century. American Tony Hwang infused new ownership into the estate in 2002 and cellar master Jean-Bernard Berthom succeeded Pinguet as winemaker in 2012.
The backbone of the estate is its three principal vineyards:
Le Haut-Lieu-The original Huet vineyard is nearly 9 hectare-acres. It has the richest soils of the domaine’s three crus-a deep limestone-clay-and the wines are generally the estate’s most approachable. In some vintages, small quantities from nearby estate parcels may be added to Le Haut-Lieu.
Le Mont-For many insiders, the argument over Vouvray’s greatest vineyard comes down to two sites: Le Mont and Clos du Bourg. Undisputably a grand cru vineyard, Le Mont enjoys a choice site on the Première Côte. With less clay and more stone than Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont yields young wines of intense minerality. With age, the wines develop great length and finesse.
Le Clos du Bourg-Gaston Huet believed this to be the greatest of all Vouvray vineyards. With the Première Côte’s shallowest, stoniest soils, its wines often synthesize Le Mont’s intense minerality with Le Haut-Lieu’s generous texture.
The 2018 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie is pure, deep, and flinty on the concentrated nose, with very fine oak, toffee, and ginger aromas. Lush, sweet and generous yet precise, and crystalline on the palate, it features very fine tannins and lingering salinity. This is a compact, persistent, tightly woven, and stimulating Chenin from the Le Mont terroir that reveals a firm, tensioned structure and a young finish with the potential to improve and refine.