I have a lot of happy memories of Huet Premier Trie wines from the late eighties and early nineties, this just doesn’t seem to live up to those memories.
Vouvray Moelleux Premier Trie ‘Clos du Bourg’ 2005, Domaine Huet
OK, sulphur may be varietal character for Chenin Blanc, but this is really preservative-tastic. If we are honest, this is not a terribly attractive character. It has some of the damp wool, rotting wood and general mould that one would hope for, but that sulphur is really distracting. I am not happy smelling this. The palate lacks the zip and life one would hope for from a Vouvray. It certainly tastes of a lot, it has complexity in that sense, but what it tastes of just doesn’t compel me. I’m worried by its lack of personality. 1990 Clos du Bourg Premier Trie was a thrilling exciting and, let us be honest, orange wine of style and class; this just seems to be dull and pedestrian. I’d expect so much more from a supposedly top producer in a really throbbing vintage. Could it be that since they’ve been bought out they have sold out? More tastings required, I suppose.
Could it also be that our tastes have changed, and we have become more picky?
Orange is a very appropriate tasting note indeed. It was very, very orange.