Vouvray Haut Lieu Moelleux, Domaine Huët 1959

The first bottle of Huet's 1959 Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Moelleux was unfortunately corked, although it comes from the best vintage since 1947. Loire expert Richard Kelley says, "This is more a passerillage vintage, denoted by the lighter appearance and raised acidity within the sweeter wines." The first bottle shows a dark yellow-golden color. The clear and by itself noble bouquet with its delicate lemon, canned peach and earthy aromas is affected by dull flavors. On the palate this is a rich, elegant and very intense Chenin with power, concentration and firm, fairly drying tannins, whereas the astringent finish detects the dull flavors of the nose again. Tragically, this bottle is be affected by TCA. No rating. Jürgen Franke was generous enough to send me a second bottle of his stock and this was beautiful in its purity and balanced richness. Golden-yellow, with an apricot-yellow shimmer in its intense yellow color the 1957 shows a clear and intense yet stunningly young and pure bouquet of mocha, yeast/brioche, white nougat, honey and peach/quince confiture mingled with very well defined spicy and mineral flavors that don't just give purity and precision, but also freshness and energy to the wine. On the palate this is a sweet, intense, full-bodied, very elegant and powerful wine with a firm and tight-woven structure and great persistence. This is an outstanding Haut Lieu, more dry than nowadays, very pure, fresh and mineral despite its richness, with great vitality, finesse, balance, and tension in the endless and thrilling finish. This is one of the finest, and from the matured wines it is the most youthful Huet of this tasting to be served in top restaurants today, not only with cheese (Vacherin, Epoisses, Fourme d'Ambert) but a rice dish with black truffles, mushrooms, black pepper and whatever your Sommelier considers as convenient (hopefully Bresse chicken). Honestly, I would not drink this wine at home, but hire the best cook available to create the once-in-a-lifetime combination. I will do that with the rest of this bottle knowing that no Burgundy on earth (at least of this age) could give me a greater pleasure. The 1959 could reach an even higher score in ten, 20 or 30 years. Regarding its clear fruitiness, concentration and sweetness, it has more similarity to 2003 than to any other vintage. (335 EUR)