2021 Domaine Huet Le Haut-Lieu Vouvray Sec Loire Valley 750 ml

If you asked them in late June, you would have found precisely zero Loire winegrowers optimistic about the 2021 season. That's because spring frosts and June hail decimated yields—as much as 50% in some areas—and a rainy summer brought the threat of mildew. However, September and October brought plentiful sun and even warmth that dried out the vineyards and provided optimal conditions for ripening.

The 2021 Domaine Huet Le Haut-Lieu triumphed in that challenging vintage, and it’s ageworthy, seductive, and exceptional in every way. Full-figured yet crystalline, powerful but unpretentious, it shines among the brightest of today’s superstar whites and shows why Sotheby’s has called Huet “the benchmark for [Chenin Blanc’s] potential.”

Since its founding in 1928, Domaine Huet has become Vouvray’s most iconic estate and one of the most celebrated Chenin Blanc producers in the world. Their three parcels—Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont, and Clos du Bourg—compose most of Vouvray’s première côte (first slope) and contain virtually all of the appellation’s Grand Cru vineyards. They were an early adopter of biodynamic farming and stand as a model for small producers around the world.

The 2021 Le Haut-Lieu Sec has an explosive and seemingly endless bouquet, a perfectly laced fruit-spice profile, a voluptuous yet crisp mouthfeel, and an unparalleled textural precision, by turns waxy and racy, curvy and lean. And beneath the layers of cool finesse, you find a simple pleasure: the radiant warmth of a friendly invitation to come in out of the cold. It’s a sparkling jewel in Huet’s Loire crown.