FRENCH WINE

ORGANIC

DECANTER 92 POINTS - "The late Anne-Claude Leflaive bought this struggling biodynamic domaine in 2008. From 2ha of old vines, Grolleau – normally used in bland rosés – is taken to another level: bright acidity lifts crunchy pomegranate fruit, with spice and texture from 18 months in old Leflaive barrels."

WINE SPECTATOR 91 POINTS - "This shows cassis, cedar and black pepper notes, fueled by vibrant acidity and imparting lovely freshness. A very elegant red, with lots of character, this is well-crafted and harmonious. The finish shows a bit of a grip. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2020 through 2026. 500 cases made, 75 cases imported."

WINE ADVOCATE 95 POINTS - "The 2018 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux is clear, deep, pure and flinty on the intense but fine and coolish-mineral nose. Very distinctive! Lush and intense but also pure, vital and tensioned on the palate, this elegant and seductive Le Mont offers a straightforward drive and a highly complex and energetic finish with grip and great mineral tension. A gorgeous, crystalline, persistently salty and tightly woven Chenin with great complexity and energy. Very attractive already today!"

In only a few years, Domaine Guiberteau has become one of the most sought after domaines in Saumur, their wines already stringently allocated and found in the best restaurants in France.

AB organic certification
Organic (since 2003) Vinification: 100% de-stemmed, indigenous yeasts, no new oak except Arboises (80% new) and Brézé (40%), no fining, filtration if needed.

WINE ADVOCATE 95 POINTS: "The 2018 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux is ripe and already quite open on the remarkably fine and precise nose where delicate chalky notes intermix with yeasty aromas of ripe apples and even very fine flinty hints. On the palate, this is a sweet, lush, salty-piquant and refined but tightly woven Chenin with structure, remarkable finesse, tickling salinity and serious but fine tannins, as if it was a Pinot Noir. Filigreed and feminine on the tongue, the 2018 develops a long, tensioned, tightly woven and stimulatingly salty finish. Great class and aging potential."

These are the finest, purest, most delicate yet also intense Vouvrays I have had from Huet in recent years - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate

Fans shouldn't miss the chance to buy some of the world's finest Chenin Blancs, which are still spectacularly moderate in price - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate

We just received an allocation of the 2019 vintage from Domaine Huet and are thrilled to have enough of these rare wines to offer them in an email. Only 4 wines were made in this vintage, three of which are dry (Sec) and one off-dry (Demi-Sec). They are all fantastic, complex and high scoring wines that are incredibly delicious. These wines possess a pleasing textural component and a minerality that enhances the pure orchard and citrus fruit flavors.

Since its founding in 1928, Vouvray's Domaine Huet has been the standard-bearer for great, age-worthy Chenin Blanc. The Wine Advocate's Stephan Reinhardt absolutely loves these wines, heaping high praise and scores on each one of the wines from this vintage. He wrote, "These are the finest, purest, most delicate yet also intense Vouvrays I have had from Huet in recent years."

The Clos du Bourg is another stellar Chenin: ripe, deep, rich and complex yet also pure and vital, with great finesse and elegance and an impressive finish. The 2019 is probably the most amazing Clos de Bourg I have tasted as a young wine!"

The domaine's founder, Victor Huet, was a Parisian bistro owner who re-settled to the town of Vouvray in the beautiful Loire Valley after WW1. He soon purchased the first of his great vineyards, Le Haut-Lieu, in 1928, and Domaine Huet was born.

Victor's son Gaston worked with his father from the beginning, and assumed full charge by 1937. With an obsessive devotion to quality, and an engaging showman's personality, Gaston built the Huet legacy over the next 55 years.

As the estate prospered in the post-WWII era, Gaston secured two additional prime vineyards on the Premiere Cote that would ensure the domaine's stature: Le Mont (purchased in 1957) and Clos du Bourg (farmed since 1953, purchased in 1963). Collectively, these three vineyards, and the wines made from them, account for Huet being the greatest of all Vouvray producers.

Gaston was joined in 1971 by his son-in-law, Noel Pinguet, and 1979 by chef de culture, Jean-Bernard Berthome. Together, they crafted legendary wines from their three parcels-with the vineyards and nature dictating which grapes would become Sec, Demi-Sec, or Moelleux. The estate always held back significant stocks of older vintages, and these wines' near immortality has helped to further the Huet legend.

With Berthome in charge of winemaking since 2012, the domaine may be making its most consistently great wines ever. It was one of the earliest adopters of biodynamics, and recent wines, perhaps more than any in the domaine's history, achieve a fascinating level of transparency, purity, and knife-edged balance.

The wines from Domaine Huet are among the greatest white wines in the world. Fortunately, they remain quite affordable and offer amazing value. If you haven't had quality Chenin Blanc before, this is a great opportunity to try some of the best. If you've been lucky enough to enjoy Huet before, then you know that now is the time to grab these iconic wines.

WINE ADVOCATE 97 POINTS - "The 2019 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec offers a deep, rich yet pure and refined, intensely aromatic, darker-toned nose with aromas of fully ripe stone and tropical fruit intertwined with earthy, chalky and yeasty notes that make up for further finesse and complexity. Full-bodied, round and fruity on the palate, this is a deep, intense, juicy, silky-textured yet tight, chalky, very complex, sustainably structured and persistently salty-mineral Chenin from old vines that give extra concentration as well as a spectacularly expressive character. This is a great, age-worthy Vouvray with fine tannins and lingering salty tension and finesse. What a finish! The 2019 needs a while to gain finesse and even more complexity. The wine served from the bottle that I tasted nine days before was incredibly amazing! The 2019 is a duty for all Chenin aficionados!"

If Chene Marchand is all about power and stature, Petit Chemarin represents the silky and supremely elegant end of the Pinard’s single vineyard spectrum. Wonderfully fine and with precise aromas of lime, Sicilian lemon, salt, chalk and honeysuckle, the palate is liquid silk, utterly seamless from start to finish, a wine of great elegance and sustained refinement. Gorgeous.

Vincent Pinard is one of the most dedicated producers of the Loire valley and, with 15 hectares based in Bué, has vines in some of the best sites around Sancerre. The excessively low yields, hand harvesting and modern winery, complete with temperature controlled vats, result in enticing, aromatic and intense wines. Although not certified organic, they do not use any pesticides in the vineyard.