Sarah Hwang, whose family owns the iconic Domaine Huet in Vouvray, states emphatically, “Demi-sec is the strength of Vouvray.” Though the literal translation of demi-sec is “half dry,” wines labeled as such will have notable sweetness. What makes the demi-sec, and the even sweeter wines of Vouvray (plus other sweet wines from the Loire, like Coteaux du Layon or Quarts de Chaume) sensational is the riveting and balancing acidity that energizes the palate. Hwang must feel like a salmon swimming upstream sometimes since market data show that sweet wine consumption continues to fall. What a shame because these sweet wines are versatile and well-suited to the multi-cultural fusion cuisine that appears on today’s tables. They have an important place at dinner—but not where you might think.
These wines work best not with dessert as might seem intuitive, but rather with spicy or otherwise highly flavored dishes. The sweetness balances the spice. Their high acidity allows them to match with the plethora of flavors in an omakase meal, for example. They are exceptionally well-suited to a cheese course if that happens to be on the table. Sweet wines fight with the sweetness of dessert which I why I suggest avoiding them at that point. But you can enjoy them as dessert.
One of the beauties of Chenin Blanc, the defining variety of Vouvray and the other sweet wines of the Loire, is that it makes sensational dry and sweet wines. That’s its blessing for wine growers and, from a consumer’s point of view, its curse because often the label won’t divulge what style is in the bottle. That’s not a problem at Huet because all their wines are clearly labeled, from dry to sweet, either Sec, Demi-Sec, Moelleux or Moelleux Première Trie.
So, let’s now turn back to Huet.
Victor Huet founded the Domaine in 1928 when he purchased the roughly 23-acre vineyard, Le Haut-Lieu. It was Gaston, Victor’s son, who was in charge for 55 years, from 1937 until his death, at age 92, in 2002, and who was responsible for catapulting the Domaine to its current iconic stature. He acquired two more prime vineyards, 20-acre Le Mont in 1957, and 15-acre Clos du Bourg in 1963 and then starting the conversion to biodynamic viticulture in the 1988, before the philosophy was widely embraced, achieving certification five years later. Following Gaston’s death, the Hwang family, headed by the Filipino-born New York businessman Anthony Hwang, purchased the estate. Currently his daughter, Sarah, runs the Domaine. Benjamin Joliveau is the winemaker, taking over from Gaston’s son-in-law, Noël Pinguet, who retired in 2012.
The soil of all three vineyards contains varying proportions of clay and limestone, a mixture considered ideal for Chenin Blanc, and are located on what most people consider the best parts of Vouvray. Huet bottles the wines from these three sites separately because they have different characters. Indeed, the wines’ distinctiveness is still apparent with bottle age. From my cellar, the racy elegance of the 2014 Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont contrasted nicely with the richer and more textured 2014 Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg. Both were exceptional matches with a highly flavored Ras el Hanout-marinated grilled chicken thighs. Both display a honeyed character, but without noticeable sweetness, balanced by an enlivening and bright acidity.
I had been under the mistaken impression that each vineyard site was dedicated to one style of wine, either—Sec, Demi-Sec, or Moelleux. Not so. Hwang and Joliveau explained to me that Mother Nature, not the site, determines the style of the wine. All three sites can produce Sec, Demi-Sec, or Moelleux, depending on the vintage. Generally speaking, warmer vintages tend to produce more Demi-Sec or Moelleux, while cooler vintages tend to favor Sec and Huet’s minerally and lively sparkling Péttiant.
All of Huet’s wines contain residual sugar—the amount depends on whether the wine is Sec, Demi-Sec, or Moelleux—which amplifies their character, according to Hwang. Huet’s steely and textured 2024 Clos du Bourg Sec, focuses on its minerality, relegating the underlying peachy quality to the background. Bracing acidity combined with minimal residual sugar (7 grams per liter) keeps it in the dry category. But don’t expect it to have the same edginess of Chablis. I’d be happy drinking this charmer with most anything. (93 pts; $48 for the 2023). The brilliantly balanced peachy and bright 2017 Demi-Sec from Le Mont would be ideal with spicy fare. A delectable hint of bitterness and that lingering palate-awakening acidity in the finish enhances its stature (95 points, $46). That enlivening acidity keeps the lush, ripe peach-like succulent 2018 Huet Le Haut-Lieu Moelleux fresh and you coming back for more. Bring on a cheese platter! (95 pts., $49).
The cellar is where the team makes the decision which style(s) of wine they will bottle in an individual year. Hwang and Joliveau emphasize that their aim at harvest is “to get the purity and pristine crop into the press.” To that end, they harvest selectively, going through the vineyard multiple times. They bring a sorting table into the vineyards. Since botrytis-affected grapes are rare in Vouvray, unlike in Sauternes, Huet’s team is looking for ripe and balanced grapes, not ones affected by botrytis. Hwang explains, “We might ask the cutters to cut certain parts or certain bunches…just to get what we are looking for in terms of…good grapes…the skins are ripe, the stems are ripe, the seeds are ripe, the juice is structured, there is a good balance between sugar and acidity. That’s the whole point. That’s what we are looking to harvest. Once the harvest goes down to the cellars there is no more sorting.”
After pressing, the juice ferments in a combination of tanks and barrels, with no fixed recipe. Joliveau sums it up succinctly, “if you have good juice, it’s hard to make bad wine.”
As the wine ferments, Hwang, Joliveau and the team taste to determine which batches will wind up bottled as Sec, Demi-Sec, or Moelleux. Joliveau explains, “[By tasting] we’re getting a sense of what the vintage is giving us…the nuances…. Sometimes we taste every half hour to be sure everything is ok. When we think the balance is there, we stop fermentation.” They stop fermentation by a combination of techniques: cooling the wine, adding a touch of sulfur, and filtering it, all of which in combination kill and then remove the yeast.
There’s tremendous variability in what wines Huet bottles each year, which can be frustrating for consumers looking for a particular wine. In 2022, the seven-week harvest allowed them to produce their entire range of wines. Compare that to the difficult, disease-ridden four-week harvest in 2023 where a substantial number of grapes never made it past the sorting table. Still, Hwang says that she’s very proud of their 2023s because of their purity. In some years, such as 2018, 85 percent of Huet’s production was sweet wine, whereas in 2024 it was mostly the Sec category, according to Hwang. So, if you, like most people, adore Huet’s Demi-Sec from Clos du Bourg, you will be out of luck searching for a 2024 because they didn’t produce it. Similarly, Huet doesn’t produce a Pétillant every year. “It all depends on what the vineyard gives us,” explains Hwang.
The lack of predictably of what Huet produces each year can be confusing and exasperating for consumers. But, not to worry, the quality of Huet’s wines is incredibly consistent, and the wines are extremely versatile. So, you just need to select the style appropriate for any particular occasion.
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August 6, 2025
E-mail me your thoughts about Vouvray in general or Huet, in particular, at Michael.Apstein1@gmail.com and follow me on Instagram at @MichaelApstein