100 % Chenin Blanc, 100 % passion. This is what Domaine Huet in the Vouvray appellation on the Loire, a few kilometres from the city of Tours, stands for.
The winery has been working with biodynamic methods for around 25 years in order to bring out the "essence of the terroir" even more authentically. In the end, everyone benefits from sustainable farming methods, including the wild tulip, which is threatened with extinction and is being reintroduced to the estate.
Oceanic and continental climate zones meet on the slopes of Vouvrillon. The soils are varied and thus form the basis for exciting cuvées. "Le Clos du Bourg" is located near the church of Vouvray. Limestone, clay and tufa form the subsoil here. "Le Haut-Lieu" is characterised by clay. The soils of "Le Mont" consist of green clay and stone. The dry cuvées combine the "fruitiness of the clay soils, the chiselled minerality of the flints and the rondeur produced by the limestone."
In the vineyard, they not only look for healthy and ripe grapes, but also keep an eye out for noble rot, which allows a further level of quality. In the cellar, all three crus are vinified separately. The whole grapes are gently pressed and the must is pre-clarified for 24 hours. The juice is then divided into two batches, one of which ferments spontaneously in steel tanks and the other in old barrels on natural yeasts.
The extremely storable wines are then allowed to mature at a constant 13 °C in long galleries that wind their way through the tufa bedrock.
photos: Domaine Huet
