Tokaji producer István Szepsy and a Chinese-American financier Anthony Hwang. Pinguet retained control over the winemaking, but also took 20% of the shares in the company, so he has maintained a financial as well as viticultural foothold. During his tenure of the estate Gaston expanded the family's holdings considerably. Victor's original Haut Lieu estate saw more planting, broadening out so that today it covers 9 hectares, and there were new purchases, most notably Le Mont an 8 hectare vineyard purchased in 1957, and the Clos du Bourg, a 6 hectare site purchased not long afterwards, in 1963. These three vineyards are the core of the Huet domaine, each yielding rich fruit and an array of styles, from sec (typically 3 - 5 g/l) and demi-sec (typically 10 - 20 g/l) to moelleux and moelleux premier trie (typically over 30 g/l, generally 60 - 100 g/l for the latter). In very recent vintages, however, use has been made of rented vines in the Vodanis vineyard, where a sec is produced. In 2003, however, newly arrived investor Anthony Hwang stated that the quality from Vodanis was insufficient for Domaine Huet, and that there would be no more wines from Vodanis; this was confirmed when I visited the domaine that year. This perception that the wine never lived up the Huet label may be why at least some bottles in the UK market were simply labelled Domaine de Vodanis, with no mention of Domaine Huet, although the label design was unmistakeably Huet. Each of the three core Huet vineyards contains a balance of young and old vines, in fairly exact proportions; 15% between 1 and 10 years, 35% between 10 and 30 years and 50% between 30 and 50 years. It is the differing terroirs of the three sites that determines the style and quality of the wines. The 9 hectare Haut Lieu vineyard is the Huet original, and here a layer of a heavy, brown clay together with and a little limestone, up to four metres at its deepest, makes the wines rounded, supple and approachable. The next acquisition, Le Mont, lies on the slopes of the Loire, and here the soils are more stony, with less clay which is also of a different, greener character, mixed with some silica. It is the 6 hectare Clos de Bourg that is generally regarded as the greater of the three main vineyards. It is a true clos (walled vineyard), on the slopes of Vouvray above the village church. There is considerable history behind this site, records indicating its existence as long ago as the seventh century when it was owned by the collegiate church of St Martin de Tours. The site consists of a shallow layer of soil, 1 metre in depth, over solid limestone rock. The vine roots work their way quickly through such comparatively shallow soils, penetrating the limestone beneath; as a consequence the site is preferred for its solid, structured, age-worthy wines. The Huet grapes are hand harvested, which enables picking by successive tries – each trie being a separate pass by the workers through the vineyard. This enables the selection of only the best bunches of nobly rotted grapes. Naturally the first pass through the vineyard, fermented and bottled as première trie , is of the highest quality and therefore commands the highest price. The wines undergo temperature-controlled fermentation in 225 and 600 litre oak barrels as well as 3000 litre stainless steel vats. The wines are racked and sulphured to arrest the ferment when the balance between sugar and alcohol is right. There is no malolactic fermentation to maintain freshness. Naturally the style depends on the vintage as well as the terroir , with great years such as 1989 and 1947 being defined by the great wines of marvellous longevity, but the vineyard also makes its mark. Those of the Clos du Bourg tend towards richness, with demi-sec and sweeter being the norm in many vintages, whereas those from other vineyards will tend more towards a sec style. The première trie wines from the Clos de Bourg, in a good vintage, are among the most sought after wines of the Loire.
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