Opened a 2014 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg a few minutes ago. Planning to let it aerate and de-cill for about an hour or so, and then hopefully enjoy the wine with our Sunday evening cheese plate. The prevalent talk about premox on WB with some of these wines, and the specific mentions of it in several CT reviews of this wine, has me on the hyper-alert.
Took a quick sip and photo after opening. Sharply tart acidic taste, color is not at all darkened. Can I relax at this point or not?
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Paging Brad Kane, who will say that the scent is normal, and not premox.
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First taste reaction from my wife: âNice . . . . tastes like Sherryâ
Oops!
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Sorry to say that I found a number of 14s, if not already advanced, definitely in an incipient stage early on (same with Chidaine btw). Iâve only bought a small number of bottles of Huet since then, and made sure to drink them early.
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Brad is about to wage jihad on all of you.
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As he has before. But nothing he says can counter observed reality.
Premox or just not in my wheelhouse⌠Letâs put it this way - I was not eager to have a second glass.
Unless itâs being routinely reported as a problem in many markets around the world, no, itâs not.
a 2014 should not be tasting like sherry.
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Iâm calling a timeout.
Yeah, my initial reaction to the wine being reminiscent of Sherry for my wife was not favorable. And I could also taste what she was talking about. But she actually LIKED the wine. The wine was not what I expected though, and I was maybe a bit too willing to lean towards a âpremoxâ judgement and calling it a day. I am going to try to be a little more open minded as I finish the wine over the next couple of evenings.
Maybe Iâll learn something, maybe not.
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I like sherry, too â love it, actually. But for a 2014 Huet to be tasting like sherry is not right, regardless of whether one enjoys it like that.
This 100%
That sherry smell is definitely signs of oxidation - period. Premox? Donât know because I donât know the normal track record of that specific wine . . .
Cheers
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I appreciate hearing your thoughts. I am clearly getting out over my skis, but . . .
Is a distinction between âoxidativeâ and âoxidizedâ relevant with this wine. Is the oxidative note any part of the winemakers intent/expectation in the making of Clos du Bourg Sec. There is a tasting note about this wine on CT from a couple of years ago by âAMATEUR62â that intrigued me. He makes reference to this wine playing in the same ballpark as Tondonia white and some Jura Savignin wines. Having tasted the Tondonia white for the first time a few months ago, the comparison rang true somewhat to me. I enjoyed the Tondonia white but I came to it with an open mind expecting something maybe different from what I knew. I donât think I approached this Huet wine the same.
As always, FWIW.
Cheers
Jim, I had a fully oxidized 2014 Le Mont Sec a few months ago. I actually didnt hate it. That said, the 2008s, 2013s, and 1996 ive had showed no oxidative qualities.
Hi Jim, the point some people are making, correctly, is that style is not typical or correct for 9 year old Huet. Enjoyment is great, but many people have come to expect a much longer life before any sherry/oxidative/etc notes are present. I think itâs fair to say that your experience is not Huetâs intention or expectation, unlike with the other wines you mentioned.
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Well this is where itâs going to get fun indeed.
My interpretation of those Tondonia whites is that you should expect oxidative notes because that is the style that they are trying to produce - or at least thatâs the expectation with those wines.
My guess is that not you should expect in this wine. Period.
Cheers
You may not have hated it, but it did not live up to expectations, right? Reminds me of the statement - when life gives you lemons . . .
Cheers
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I think itâs a very relevant distinction. 2014 is young IMO for an oxidized Huet wine. And my experience with all Huets - le Mont, Clos du Bourg, And Haut Lieu, across all sweetness categories â is that they are not what I would call oxidative styles. Your notes are important to me because I have a lot of 2018-2020 Huet across the checkerboard of cuvee and sweet and they seem to be able to take a lot of aging. So itâs very relevant to me if your experience is that they canât.
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Does anyone else here have experience with a Loire chenin that transforms from oxidized notes to wonderful and expected chenin Blanc characteristics with air?
Not with Huet wines for me, but a handful of other Chenins in the age range of 5-10 that showed a lot of bruised fruit and astringency⌠so I just leave them for a 2-4 day period in the fridge, and voilà here they are full of honey and wool and stone fruit and citrus? Suppose one of these was not Loire but rather a sandlands Lodi that did the same thing. I was confused but happy each of the three times!