2007 Huet Vouvray Franc de Pied Le Haut-Lieu Demi-Sec? Paging Chis Kissack

WINE TALK
1

I just received an offer for an unfamiliar Huet bottling. It’s from ungrafted vines planted in 1985. Has anyone heard of this?

2

… Or Dr. Jura, aka Michael Lewis.

3

I have had this on wine-searcher alert for almost a decade. I believe RWC is correct that this has never been offered in the US before. If you are a fan of Huet or franc de pied wines I can’t think of anything that is more of a no-brainer than this.

4

Peter Liem: http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/pages/F&F/1009_post_pasteur.html

5

This is a real rarity. There are a surprising number of domaines in the Loire where there have been experiments with ungrafted vines, off the top of my head these include many of the regions most popular domaines, e.g. Henri Marionnet, Philippe Delesvaux, Charles Joguet (in Varennes du Grand Clos, but pulled up in recent years), François Chidaine (in Le Bournais), Pierre Breton, Didier Dagueneau (now run by son Louis-Benjamin, the source of Asteroide), Bernard Baudry, Domaine des Roches Neuves, Lise & Bertrand Jousset, Marc Angeli and Pithon-Paillé (in Les Treilles, most vines now dead/dying and replaced with grafted). Some such as Baudry & Roches Neuves make it into their own “Frand de Pied” cuvée, some are in separate cuvées but not ‘advertised’ as franc de pied (Delesvaux Cuvée Authentique, for example), some are in small plots and are blended in with the product of grafted vines.

Huet have planted ungrafted vines in both Le Haut Lieu and Le Mont in the past, but it has always been a very low key project and the wines rarely seen, hence the ‘rarity’ tag. I’m not sure if the plots are still going, most franc de pied experiments only last 10-15 years for obvious reasons. Those vineyards that last longer are either (a) planted on sandy soils, of which there are plenty along the length of the Loire although there are not generally highly regarded sites, or (b) they are not true ungrafted ‘stand alone’ vines but vines propagated by marcottage, which produces a new vine from the one adjacent, and the runner from parent to child is left intact. The vines survive on their own roots because of the link, cut this and they die.

Huet don’t do much (any) publicity regarding their franc de pied vines and I have never even seen a bottle of the Franc de Pied cuvée. So from that you can deduce I have never tasted it either. I agree with the above comments that if you like Vouvray, or Huet, or grafted/ungrafted comparisons (the straight 2007 Haut Lieu Demi-Sec is still available in the UK although I don’t see any US merchants offerin it) then buying it is probably a no brainer, even if 2007 was a vintage in which I personally believe the sec cuvées are the best.

6

This wine is made from the non-grafted vines planted on the lower section of the 9 hectares vineyard where the soils are richest. The 2007 Demi-Sec is the first Franc de Pieds released by the estate in the US market.

http://www.polanerselections.com/wine/huet-vouvray-demi-sec-haut-lieu-franc-de-pieds

7

I bought a 6-pack, of course.

8

I was only able to score the last two. Should have ordered sooner.

9

I got in late and only managed to grab three bottles.

I’ve had the '02 and '03, assuming what Rare Wine calls the Franc de Pied is the same as the Non Greffé bottling. The '02, unfortunately, was like other '02s from the estate and showed some premox. The '03 was interesting, but not my favorite given the ripe vintage, but to me it showed more phenolics than their other demi-sec bottlings from around the same time period, not that one sample is enough to make a generalization.

10

Bought a case of this, hope it is good!

I am fascinated with these ungrafted vines, perhaps folks would want to share other examples?

For example, I was just informed recently that the Potel-Aviron Chenas is from ungrafted vines… Really? Is this a jumping on the bandwagon thing, or is it true?

Of course all the Loire reds like Breton, Plouzeau, etc.; seems to be a hotbed for the stuff. But there is also the Astéroïde, the Bollinger VV, Maillart FdP, Tarlant Antan, Noval Nacional, Ponce PF, Casa Castillo PF, Chasseloir Muscadet, Cogno Barbera, etc., not to mention all the Marionnet stuff, Canary Islands, Santorini, etc. etc…

Is there any catalog resource currently available for this type of wine?

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Also of course, how could I forget, Lisini, Cappellano, Charlopin, etc., would be very happy for any other recommendations!

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old article;

or;

13

Speaking of the Baudry FdP - I was emailing with the Loire buyer at K&L about whether they’d be getting any in for the 12 or 13 vintages - here’s what he said:

Bad news. I just heard back from the importer who had reached out to Baudry about this. This is what they sent back… “The Franc de Pied parcel is slowly diminishing due to disease, so we now blend what’s left of it into Clos Guillot.​”

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Thank you, R.

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Trav - can’t say whether the Potel-Aviron chenas is truly from ungrafted roots (although I have no reason to doubt it), but the wine is awesome. Not really sure why it doesn’t seem to get the press that Foillard and the other big guns of Beaujolais do, but you can find the aviron chenas for $20, and its well worth your money to give it a try.
A

16

I believe that Marcarini’s Dolcetto d’Alba Boschi di Berri is from very old, ungrafted vines.

17

Sad news indeed!

18

Thanks for the fantastic color Chris.

19

Hey Alex,

Thanks for the notes. Will definitely give one a try. This is a guy whose palate I trust!

Never in a million years thought I’d be back on “usenet” but for some reason the burgundy vintages threads roped me in.


Frank,

Thanks for the memory jolt! Have you tasted it? Valter Fissore’s inspiration for their PF Barbera, from the golden age when Cogno was making the wines there.

[training.gif] Macho Man that I am, I ADORE his old Barolo from that era, but never tasted any of that Dolcetto, and haven’t tasted any Marcarini at all since the changing of the guard. Definitely going to give this one a try, too.

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Travis,

I’ve had the Boschi di Berri a few times but not lately; I liked it a lot, certainly in comparison to their much simpler Fontanazza bottling; qualitatively I’d compare it to Einaudi’s Vigna Tecc, but tasting them blind I’m sure I would not have been able to pick out the “ungrafted” wine.

My very first Barolo ever was Marcarini’s '85 Brunate; was Cogno there until 1990, or am I remembering wrong?