I talked the partner into buying a bottle of this, twenty year old sparkling Vouvray. I told him they can be really good, and well worth the risk of £14 that he might find it too weird to enjoy. Fortunately, it is really good and he loves it.
Vouvray Brut 1987, Huet
Quite a deep yellow colour, but not the orange of old sweet Vouvray. The nose has aromas of ceps and baked apples. It is obviously not Champagne and is distinctly Loire Chenin in character; it has hints of dampness and rotting wood. The palate has a nice weight to it, good concentration and a reasonably fine mousse. There is some mature fruit there as well, much to my surprise. Oddly, there is a hint of tinned peas flavour, which is strangely attractive. Really good length. It is really quite complex and the flavours, whilst odd, are tasty rather than unattractive. This is.. well… can I say ‘lovely’ about Vouvray? Yes, I damned-well can! This is a bargain for such serious and enjoyable wine.
Few wine memories rival that of meandering through the caverns of Huet! Why would Vouvray not age? Surely it has the vital components necessary for long life? I would imagine it would get very honeyed.
In the cellars with old Gaston himself, no less. His fig tree by the rear entrance to the cellar had some tasty figs on it. Such happy memories. Perhaps the visit to Foreau featured better wines, but to meet Gaston Huet, crikey! I trust you also remember the sparkling Vouvray from the 1960s that Jasper Morris brought along to an Oxford Wine Circle event. That is what taught me these things are great when they are old.
Huet’s figs did indeed please greatly. But not, perhaps, quite as much as Grippat’s cherries. As for jasper, I can’t recall that wine at all. But then I have always struggled to remember much after meeting jasper.