The 2023 Vouvray "Le Haut Lieu" Sec from Domaine Huët is a classic in the making, coming in at an even thirteen percent octane in this vintage and offering up a bright and complex bouquet of quince, lemon, chalky soil tones, lanolin, white lilies and a topnote of citrus peel. On the palate the wine is pure, precise and full-bodied, with a lovely core of fruit, a fine spine of acidity, lovely focus and grip and a long, well balanced and complex finish. As is so often the case with the Sec bottlings from Domaine Huët, the 2023 Le Haut Lieu is quite open out of the blocks and is a delicious glass of wine at the present time. If history is any guide, a few years down the road it will close up for a period of hibernation before it re-emerges to drink well for another fifty years. Fine juice.

The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu is a pure, refined, seamless style with pear, pineapple and nectarine flavors. It boasts excellent clarity and refinement, with lovely freshness hailing from calibrated acidity that bursts through this blossoming wine. Considering this was only bottled three weeks before tasting, I’m very encouraged by the results. (RG)