2003 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Moelleux Museum Release, Loire Valley

The residual sugar is 90 g/l, says Jean-Bernard Berthomé. The aromatics, despite the vintage’s reputation as a heatwave year, are spot on. This is classic evolving première tri Vouvray, a melange of limestone minerals drizzled with a a sweet honey caramel, intertwined with a wonderful citrus freshness and lift. It seems delightfully promising. The palate, I am happy to report, follows on from this first impression quite beautifully, the fruit and minerals resting on a bed of sweet caramel, and although this is not a vintage rich in botrytis I do detect a little note here too. The wine as a whole maintains a very fine balance too throughout. A very impressive, broad, imposing wine with a long and cleanly balanced finish. Delicious.

18.5/20 points Chris Kissack The Wine Doctor January 2016

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Moelleux Museum Release is a rare, cellared expression of Chenin Blanc released with bottle age directly from the estate’s deep cellars. Sourced from the historic Le Haut-Lieu vineyard, first planted in 1928, this wine shows the unique evolution of botrytis-affected Chenin over time — honeyed, savoury, and complex, yet still remarkably fresh. These museum releases are bottled identically to the original vintage and held back by Domaine Huet until the wine has begun to express its secondary and tertiary character with grace and depth.

Le Haut-Lieu’s clay-rich soils over limestone lend generosity and roundness to the wine in youth, but with bottle age, those early notes of ripe orchard fruit and golden florals begin to shift into deeper layers of beeswax, saffron, grilled citrus, lanolin and spice. The acidity remains vibrant, knitting everything together with precision and length.

In the glass, the museum release opens with aromas of baked apple, orange oil, honeycomb, dried apricot and chamomile. The palate is silky and layered with quince, preserved lemon, salted almond, and a quiet, waxy savoury note that builds through the finish. There’s still drive and tension, but the wine hums at a lower frequency — mellow, complex, and incredibly persistent.

Food pairing: beautiful with aged sheep's milk cheeses, blue cheese with pear, duck à l’orange, or Moroccan chicken with preserved lemon. Also ideal with tarte Tatin or as a contemplative glass on its own.

Cellar potential: already developed, but capable of evolving further for another 10 to 20 years depending on vintage. Best enjoyed between 12 and 30 years from harvest.