First, let’s just say these wines are all fantastic. Like I mention in the notes, picking between these three wines is like choosing between a blond Angelina Jolie, a brunette Angelina Jolie, and a red-headed Angelina Jolie. The Le Mont is my favorite by a whisker, as for me, it has just the right balance of richness/roundness and acidity. The Clos du Bourg for me has a bit more richness/roundness but not quite as much acidity. The Le Haut Lieu seems to have more acidity but not as much richness. These are all such good wines. Why anyone would drink domestic whites when you can drink these for $28 is beyond me. These aren’t the best notes but what can you do?
09 Le Mont
Had this in a threesome of Huet 09 Secs. Drinking this with the other two 09 Secs confirms for me that this is my slight favorite over the Clos du Bourg which a a favorite over the Le Haut lieu. Crisp and clean with no caffeine. Just as the previous note, lots of acid with nice doses of minerality and pears. Such a freakin’ value. Terrific. 92pts.
09 Clos du Bourg
Drank with the other two 09 Huet Secs. Damn fine wine. A little richer and rounder in the mouth than the Le Mont and the Le Haut Lieu but not quite as much bracing acidity. Of the three, this is my second favorite. The Le Mont just does it for me a bit more. Sort of like picking between a blond Angelina Jolie and a brunette Angelina Jolie. No losers here. Medium to full-bodied with a nice richness balanced with tart lemon and pear. These wines are a steal. 91+ pts
09 Le Haut Lieu
Drank with the other two 09 Huet Secs. My third favorite of the three which is kind of like picking between a blond Angelina Jolie, a brunette Angelina Jolie, and a red-headed Angelina Jolie. Obviously everyone is happy. A bit more acidic than the other two but with not as much minerality or roundness. Very good wine, just may need a bit more time to round itself out. 90+ pts
Angelina Jolie aside (creeps me out–in a ‘repulsion’ sort of way, and doesn’t remind me of chenin at all), these wines are really wonderful. Be sure you give them some air–it takes about an hour in a decanter before they really shed their reticence. Jared is right–pretty hard to find better quality white for the price anywhere.
Thanks for the notes. I know that many suggest that the Bourg is “superior” to the Le Mont bottlings, but I’ve always found them to be pretty close… just depends on the vintage, sugar level, drinker’s palate etc.
Kim,
Sorry to to disturb your delicate sensibilities. I’ll always compare wine to women as they are my two most important passions!
Robert,
The Le Haut-Lieu is the red-head in my analogy…
John,
Sorry to creep you out. Not my intention. I think this time, they could have used some air as they were a bit tight when opened but blossomed beautifully after about 20 minutes or so.
Chris,
I totally agree. For me, the 07 and 09 Le Mont has been the better bottle by a bit. But they are both such good wine!
Faryan,
I don’t have any experience with the 08’s but have had roughly 3 bottles of each of the 07’s and 09’s. I think the 09’s have been more acidic with a tad less fruit. Maybe it’s because they are so young. I think in the long run, the 09’s will be better balanced but I’m new the Huet game so what do I know!
I happened to stumble into Acker Merrall on Friday to find them pouring these and had a very similar take, though I thought there was a bigger differential between the Clos du Bourg and Le Mont and the Haut-Lieu. The former two were just bursting with aromas while the H-L was much less interesting.
They also had an 09 moelleux (I can’t remember the vineyard now) and the Cuvee Constance, which were lovely, and an 85 moelleux that was off the charts great.
Jared, your march cotinues. Terrific. I still have some 07 Le Mont left and I have been a little distracted by the Chidaine wines the last six months so you remind me I need to circle back around to the Huet. I can’t recall Envoyer selling Huet so I had been buying the wine at Wine Ex. Need to see why Greg doesn’t offer these.
Frank Tre,
Oh, how I love the 07 Le Mont! I hear on the Chidaine as I just drank an 08 Le Bouchet on Sunday night that I’ll be posting a note on tonight. Terrific wine.
When I tasted, I thought the Le Mont was the simplest of the three, and preferred the Clos de Bourg, but I think Much depended on how much air the sample had had. Somehow I ended up with a couple of cases of chenin in my cellar, between chidaine and huet, which is kind of unusual for me.
With regard to Kim’s comment, I don’t think there are any delicate sensibilites involved. I think she just thought, like she said, that it struck her as ridiculous.
