I saw one stray bottle of this on the shelf this week so I had to pull the trigger. It’s early in the game but I’ll take my dip into gettting the conversation started if anyone else wants to play. I’ll try the Bourg and Lieu when I can find them but at this rate, given what the Le Mont shows at this stage, is this what 2011 is going to offer us?
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2011 Huët Vouvray Sec Le Mont - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (10/30/2012)
Initial impressions? I opened tonight and the wine was a bit out of sorts. Seemed wierdly boozy to me, although that might be a poor reference but this is what I perceived. Seemed like it had a fiery ripeness, spicy with lots of acid buffering it all. Yellow apple, pear and mineral. I will retaste tomorrow and add a final note but I offer this point of view for those who may open and drink right away…forwarding one day in time, here are some ending thoughts as I drink another glass a day forward. I’ll use 2010 as a comparator, as I need something as a backstop. The 2011 doesn’t have the balance of the 2010. One explanation for balance to me is found in the ripeness, as 2011 feels fatter to me, richer, which is not 2010, in that vintage expresses better balance of fruit and texture. This 2011 shows pineapple, yellow apple, ripe mango. The lemony acidity is a bit more rugged, more brawny. It’s the collision of the lemon and mango that comes off rough, seems sweet in tone. There is nice minerality in the finish, which I enjoy. Look, all in, I’m not a Huet veteran and I can’t claim to have tasted 30 year old bottlings and what the aging curve for this may be. I’m just offering perception from my point of view, having feallen in love with all three of the 2010 sec cuvees, most notably Le Mont. This 2011 just doesn’t show the raw equivalent of class of 2010, which is an amazing bottle of white wine and my likely vote for white WOTY for 2012.
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