97 points – the top vintage ever for this famous wine – and the top vintage of ANY Huet Demi-Sec aside from Gaston Huet’s 1938 Haut-Lieu. (A quite different wine that the reviewer said reminded him of Laphroig.):
The 2019 Vouvray Le Mont Demi-Sec is clear, fresh, deep and complex yet pure, fine, elegant and perfectly interwoven on the nose, where notes of crushed flint stones, limestones and concentrated citrus fruit aromas and even iodine notes are revealed. Very elegant and refined on the palate, this is a round, juicy, seductively fruity yet firmly structured and piquant Le Mont whose sweetness is captured by fine tannins and a sustainably dense, vital and salty finish. The 2019 Demi-Sec is a great Chenin and the finer Le Mont of the two, and it is doubtlessly a long-distance runner that should be cellared for at least a decade even though it's hard to resist today. Impressive! 13.5% alcohol. 17,500 bottles made. Tasted in July 2020.
As readers know, I have been very enthusiastic about the generous 2018 series from Domaine Huet. The 2019 vintage, which was as sunny as 2018 but much drier, is completely different in style and yet is still another terrific vintage for the iconic Vouvray domain. Fans shouldn't miss the chance to buy some of the world's finest Chenin Blancs, which are still spectacularly moderate in price.
