Huet (pronounce the “t”—they’re Alsatian) is the preeminent estate for white wines in the Loire Valley, an amazing feat considering its relative youth in the context of great French wine estates.
The estate was founded in 1928 with the purchase of the Haut-Lieu vineyard by Victor Huet, a Parisian bistro owner needing convalescence in the country after his stint in the Great War. Victor’s son, Gaston, assumed full charge of the domaine by 1937 and brought the estate to prominence over the next 55+ years.
Huet farms three great sites just north of the river on the Première Côte: Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont, and the Clos du Bourg. An early French adaptor of biodynamics, Huet is committed to making age-worthy wines in the character of the vintage. With each vintage, Huet produces a combination of sec, demi-sec, moelleux, and 1ère Trie wines from the different parcels, depending on what the fruit dictates. It is not the same year to year. When the conditions are right, the estate also makes Cuvée Constance, an excellent dessert wine.
Huet is now owned by New Yorker Anthony Hwang, and the winemaking is overseen by longtime employee and Vouvrillon Benjamin Jolivesu. Joliveau is but the fifth winemaker in the estate’s near 100 year history.
