Many of us have heard about the 1921 Vouvray moelleux, the monumental wine from domaine Huet Le Haut Lieu. I just saw a bottle of it on a restaurant list last week. What is its story? Can we put together enough information through documents and reminiscences to give us a sense of its long life, from birth to the present day?
Since Gaston Huet is no longer available for interviews, and NYC is a long way from the Departmental Archives in Tours, I'll choose as inspiration one definition of history; that it is "the certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation." And since distant memories and a meager paper trail are going to be factors here, we'll just have to rely on the interwebs, correspondence, interlibrary loan, and texts from my bookshelf. As we'll see, there's enough out there, perhaps just enough, to piece together a probable story about this wine.
Gaston was 18 at the time he and his family moved to Vouvray from Paris. Some accounts say that Gaston's father Victor, gravely injured during WW-I and in delicate health, was the reason for the move to the country. But as the younger Huet indicates, it was a mutually beneficial decision. "My parents bought this property in autumn 1928 in order to satisfy my desire to live in the countryside. It had belonged for several generations to what we call "men of law", (hussiers, avocats, etc...)" he said in a 2000 letter. "They had little interest in exploiting the property and were selling the production to Negociants."
Huet was talking about the Massé-Viollet family, who were the previous proprietors of Le Haut Lieu. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s the family had been at times more involved in producing estate-bottled wine, as documented by an existing postcard image and records of a few prizes awarded to the wines (médaille de vermeil at the exposition of Tours 1881 and a diplôme d'honneur at Vouvray in 1897). But the estate was slowing down by the 1920s. 1924 was the last year Louis Massé-Viollet was listed as a member of the "Union Vinicole des propriétaires d'Indre-et-Loire" and in the following year, 1925, Charles Massé (a son, presumably?) had replaced Louis on the published membership list, possibly indicating a generational changeover prior to the Huet purchase in Autumn of 1928.
If the previous owners weren't making wine in the 1920s and were selling the Le Haut Lieu grapes to negociants, what then was the source of the excellent older vintages, the '19, '21, '24? These wines, which one can still find in today's marketplace, predate the Huet family's involvement as winemakers at the estate. What's the story there? In the same letter from 2000, Gaston gives us a clue - "the vintages prior to 1929 were purchased from the old vignerons by father or myself."
"Old vignerons," that's rather vague. And Huet says the previous owners had little or no interest in the winemaking business. Could the library vintages have come from a source other than Le Haut Lieu? Noel Pinguet, Gaston's son-in-law, gives us a little help here, by clarifying that the backstock "provient en fait du Mont, mais à cette époque le vignoble n’était pas individuellement reconnu." - It originally comes from Le Mont, but at that time the vineyards weren't individually recognized.-
It's a bit of a stretch for Pinguet to say "not individually recognized" in the greater sense, for Le Mont was indeed recognized by connoisseurs - it had already been listed in 1927 as one of the top Vouvray vineyards by wineseller Nicolas in their book series "Monseigneur le Vin." But perhaps he meant the practice of adding vineyard designation to the labels of bottled wine. That became more popular as the twentieth century unfolded.
To reinforce Pinguet's assertion that the old wines come from Le Mont, one need only look to earlier releases by Huet of these vintages, which have occasionally been graced with the Le Mont label. Jim Budd of JimsLoire blog fame wrote in 2009 "Today we have a brunch with this 1919 Le Mont Moelleux as the aperitif. [It] predates the founding of Domaine Huet, which happened nine years later." (see photo). Another sighting: In 1998 John Shafer of Shafer Vineyards told the LA Times "when I was at the Union Square Cafe in New York City, they brought out a Vouvray from my birth year, the 1924 Le Mont. I had never heard of a Vouvray that old; we were all dumbfounded. But it was very drinkable. It was basically dry to semi-dry. It was not oxidized. It still had some fruit. It was very pleasant, definitely not the kind of thing you leave in your glass." Probably the wine was Huet, since the USC has had a strong relationship with the US importer at the time, Robert Chadderdon. In any case, the "Le Haut Lieu" label is both vineyard and the Huet house brand. As John Gilman says "in some vintages the Le Haut Lieu bottlings will include some juice from the other small Huet holdings outside of the vineyard proper... in essence the Domaine Huet Le Haut Lieu cuvées are both a flagship 'brand name' for the estate, and often single vineyard offerings." It's not unreasonable then for a wine to wear the Le Haut Lieu label even if some (or in special cases all) of the grapes were sourced elsewhere.
Onward. Can we determine who owned Le Mont at the time the Huet was trying to purchase back vintages? John Gilman tells us that "the previous owners of the Le Mont vineyard had been the firm of Ackerman-Laurance, who used to label their wines from this vineyard as 'Clos le Mont." Good info, but did their ownership date as early as 1921? At least one source tells us that maison Ackerman had purchased two vineyards in Vouvray, Sens and Boisrideau, as early as 1844, so Vouvray was definitely on their radar. Some disorderlies among us have had occasion to try 1940s-50s Le Mont bottlings from chez Ackerman, whose managing director in the 30s (and maybe earlier) was Baron Raymond de Luze. He'd been associated with the house since 1914. Once Prohibition ended, De Luze courted the re-emerging American market for his firm's wines, setting up tastings and placing his best wines in high end shops. A 1942 Bellows and Co. ad announcing "An Historic Offering of Magnificent French Wines" in the New York Herald Tribune offers "Vouvray Clos le Mont 1921 Est. Bot. Baron Raymond de Luze" for $50 per case (in 2013 dollars that's $740). Impressively, that's more than they were asking for the 1934 Lafite or Haut-Brion. In the same ad, 1921 Yquem was twice Le Mont's price at $100/case and $125 for the 21 Yquem Creme de Tête. Heady stuff.
The important thing about the ad is that it says the 21 Le Mont was estate bottled and being sold under the Ackerman/de Luze marque, an indication of ownership at the time. Huet went on to purchase the vineyard from Ackerman-Laurence in 1957.
Richard Kelley adds another layer to the interesting story. In his research of the sourcing of the Huet estate's earliest vintages, he writes that "The reserves in the cellar predate the ownership of the Huet family and we know the bottles and magnums were purchased by Gaston from the restaurant Petit Riche in Paris sometime after the Le Haut Lieu was purchased."
Let's try to determine if it's plausible that Huet purchased the back vintages from the restaurant mentioned by Kelley. Luckily the place is still open for business. If we visit the current website of Au Petit Riche on rue Lepeletier in the 9th arrondissement (it's been open since 1854) we find that the owner at the time, a Monsieur Charles Bénard, was a Vouvrillon himself, and that the restaurant specialized in wine of Touraine and Anjou, which is still their specialty. The current carte des vins states that the restaurant has a cave in Rochecorbon near Vouvray, carved into the tuffeau, where they store and age 5000 bottles in a perfect natural environment. If this was the case in 1928, Huet didn't have to go to Paris to pick up the wine, the Au Petit Riche cellar was practically in his backyard. There's other evidence too. In 1904 a report published in the Revue de Viticulture describes a large contingent of Touraine winemakers, finding themselves in Paris for the Concours général agricole, had organized a banquet at Au Petit Riche. The article reminds us that the establishment "s'est spécialisé dans les vins de Touraine." Even more convincing is that the restaurant also advertised regularly in the newsletter "La Viticulture Tourangelle," the bi-monthly rag written specifically for Touraine vignerons. In issue after issue, one can find advertisements for Au Petit Riche - the only restaurant to consistently do so. Huet, as good a subscriber candidate as any, would surely have known about the restaurant, and it seems a likely source of the back vintages, including the 1921.
We've now made some headway regarding the vineyard source, the previous owners, and the provenance of the bottles. What can we find out about the vintage itself? Judging from the soundbite descriptions below, there was general agreement that it was an exceptional year.
"Incomparable year, exceptional. Wines of great race and fine appearance, full-bodied and very sweet. Appear to have a magnificent future."
-Monseigneur le Vin (1927)
"Very good quality, exceptional year, may be considered one of the best. Small harvest due to a late spring frost. 16 hectoliters per hectare, which sold from 900 to 1300 francs." -Charles Vavasseur (1933)
"Recognized as the greatest vintage of the decade. It was a very hot season throughout Europe (it was supposedly the greatest vintage for Chateau d’Yquem since 1847) with the harvest commencing in Vouvray on the 5th October." -Richard Kelley (richardkelley.co.uk)
Wouldn't it be great to find an analysis of the growing season written at the time by someone who was there, preferably a wine-savvy person? Well bada-bing, such a thing actually exists. Here's a quick translation of a report, written in late October 1921 by Auguste Chauvigné, who was secrétaire perpétuel of the Société d'agriculture, sciences, arts et belles-lettres du département d'Indre-et-Loire. He writes:
"First we must note that a late April frost, which has not affected us seriously for years, hit our vineyards in disastrous fashion - during a season which, from the beginning, has been exceptionally warm. If no heavy rain occurs in the next few weeks, we'll be able to say that it hasn't rained in Touraine for a year, except for some showers here and there.
The vines have been growing, flowering and fruiting in completely dry soil, and the lack of precipitation has been accompanied by months of excessive heat. The blazing sun has continued to this day (October 22). Under these conditions, the harvest and the nature of the wine can not fail to be influenced.
No disease in the vineyards except a little mildew in August, and maturity was achieved despite the excessive heat. Because of the [stressed vines], though, the harvest was late, especially for a year which began so precociously. Acidity in the musts remained high until last week, causing many growers to delay harvesting;. After that it fell sharply and suddenly.
The wines that one can evaluate at this point are healthy and of remarkable beauty: they have an atypically deep color, a velvety texture, are perfumed and reflect the high quality we expected. They appear to be wines which will drink well young and they reach unusually high levels of alcohol. 12° is not uncommon, and even lesser wines reach 10°. Yields are much lower. Winemakers in areas less impacted by the frost had a good half-harvest : but they are rare and aren't enough to raise the overall average yield. While some properties may have barely reached 7 hectoliters per hectare, many more have only 15 hectoliters. All combined the year will average no higher than 20 hectoliters per hectare.
For the white grapes, naturally, conditions on the vines were the same, but the frost caused more severe damage [than it did to reds] and there was no subsequent regrowth. Yields there are even smaller and do not exceed a quarter of an average crop, that is to say from 12 to 15 hectoliters per hectare.
The wines are very sweet: good crus reach 15°. Those that have the best qualities of the year, Vouvray, Montlouis, Azay-le-Rideau, etc. will have great reputations. The quality and low yield will influence prices ; these are not yet well established, but should vary from 300 to 500 francs per 250 liters for those of lesser quality and 500 to 800 francs for the better properties."
So: Very low yields due to frost in April, a hot, dry growing season, healthy grapes from heat-stressed vines, more passerillage than botrytis, deeply colored, higher-alcohol wines. A sale in May 2011 by caveprivee.com provides an alcohol level for the 1921 Huet of 12.9%. And if you are curious about the age of the vines - after all, this isn't that long after phylloxéra, we have this quote from Gaston Huet. "The reconstitution of the Vouvray vineyards after the phylloxera disaster was from 1893 to 1906. The best sites were replanted first... In 1921 some vines could have been between 20 and 25 years old. It should be noted that in very hot and dry years, yields are low, even in younger vines."
Bottles of 1921 have certainly had a colorful history. Born during Prohibition, they were unknown in America until at least the 1930s when Baron de Luze began to promote the Ackerman portfolio here. During WW-II, vignerons in Vouvray concealed their rarest, oldest and best bottles, like the 1921, from the occupying (and perhaps even liberating) forces. Here's a great quote by Don and Petie Kladstrup in their book Wine and War (2001) "André Foreau, a winemaker from Vouvray, buried his best bottles under the beans, tomatoes and cabbages of his vegetable garden. Foreau's brother-in-law Gaston Huet used the natural caves of the Loire Valley to hide his stocks of wine. Then he planted weeds and bushes in front of the caves to conceal their entrances."
As we saw earlier, 1921 Le Mont was being sold in the US by 1942. By the 50s, its reputation had grown somewhat, at least among geeks in the know. At a 1954 Jeebus in Boston, André Simon's Wine and Food quarterly describes a potent lineup where in the final flight the 1921 de Luze Vouvray Le Mont was served AFTER the 1921 Yquem, with these remarks: "With the dessert course the two 1921's proved to be excellent (...) The Yquem of this great year was everything to be expected. The Vouvray... possessed a fullness and richness of body superior to the Yquem, a more delicate bouquet and was amazingly sound, considering its age."
An interesting tale, no? Even being limited by imperfections of memory and inadequacies of documentation we seem to have found a few good pointers toward the truth, and for now that's the best we have. It's probable that the 1921 Le Haut Lieu was made at Le Mont, which at the time was likely owned by Ackerman-Laurance and supervised by Raymond de Luze. The previous proprietors of Le Haut Lieu, famille Massé-Viollet, had ceased making estate wine due to changing family priorities. After purchasing the Le Haut Lieu estate, Victor or Gaston Huet acquired the stocks of these earlier Le Mont wines from the Paris restaurant Au Petit Riche, perhaps from their cellar in nearby Rochecorbon.
And that brings us back to the present. There it is, this living piece of history, staring up at me from the wine list at a NYC establishment. Is the wine still sound, still alive today, after 90+ years? Here's what Anthony Hanson MW had to say in the 20 May 2004 Christie's London auction catalog:
"Olive-golden, with tawny rim, and some floaters clouding its limpidity. The nose initially evokes a mushroom-picking expedition through damp undergrowth, then clears to remind me of roasted plums, with mouthwatering freshness. The palate is astonishingly concentrated and powerful, with lovely crisp finish and a fantastic, long aftertaste. Beautiful acidity, outstanding wine, this is perfection. How does it compare with Yquem 1921? 'It is more drinkable than Yquem 21', says David Elswood, 'with greater freshness.' "
And Noel Pinguet's note for caveprivee in 2011: "A fine sediment, and a distinct brown centre. Otherwise bright. Mid depth with a pale green/brown rim. Savoury elements and a smoky, salty tang to the nose. Not unlike a dry Oloroso. Very delicate on entry with more sweet elements. Faintly caramel. Lovely poised acidity. Very light, yet persistent. Not as intense as the 1947, but still very fine." (This may be a translation of Richard Kelley's tasting note from 2004 - I'm not quite sure whose it is.)
There's only one thing left to do. Find a coterie of like-minded Vouvray lovers like Joe Dougherty, Kirk Wallace and Michael Lewis, crack open a bottle, and taste what's there, firsthand.
Which we did.
Mmmmm.
SOURCES
"Au Petit Riche, restaurant de cuisine traditionnelle à Paris 9"
BARNES, Julian "The Sense of an Ending" New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, p.18.
BÉAL, Claude "Mémoire en Images. Le Vouvray de Sainte-Radegonde à Noizay" Joué-Lès-Tours: Éditions Alan Sutton, 2000, p.106.
BUDD, Jim "1919 Le Mont Vouvray Moelleux Huet" 26 April 2009
CHAUVIGNÉ, Auguste "Vignoble de la Touraine" Paris: Revue de Viticulture, 1921, tome LV, pp.326-327.
CHRISTIE'S "Fine Wines Featuring Historic Vintages from Gaston Huet and Vintage Cigars" London, Sale 6904, 20 May 2004.
DEROUET, James "Histoire de la vigne en Touraine 1830-1930" Chemillé-sur-Indrois: Éditions Hugues de Chivré, 2013, p.232.
"Domaine Huet Le Haut-Lieu (Moelleux) 1921"
F.C. "Touraine: Concours générale agricole" Paris: Revue de Viticulture, 1904, tome XXI, no. 534, pp.290-291.
GILMAN, John "Domaine Gaston Huet - Vouvray's Timeless Crown Jewel" in View from the Cellar, Nov-Dec 2007 number 12, pp.1-33, (see pp.11-12, 13).
HUET, Gaston, typed correspondence with Donald Rice, 20 Juillet 2000.
KELLEY Richard "Vouvray Grower Profiles Domaine Huet Tasting Notes - 1919 to 1959"
KLADSTRUP, Don and Petie "Wine & War. The French, the Nazis and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure" New York: Broadway Books, 2001, p.95.
LA TIMES, "What Are You Drinking?" 14 Jan 1998, http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jan/14/food/fo-8005
"LA VITICULTURE TOURANGELLE organe de l'Union vinicole des propriétaires d'Indre-et-Loire" (revue bi-mensuelle) Tours: (année 27, no.1, 15 jan 1924, p.7) (année 28, no.1, 15 jan 1925, p.7) (année 32, no.6, -mensuelle- 15 juin 1929, p.94)
MARTO, Joseph P. "Memorable Meals" London: Wine and Food a Gastronomical Quarterly, Autumn 1954, no. 83, pp.200-202.
MONTORGUEIL, Georges "Monseigneur le Vin Livre Quatrième. Anjou-Touraine, Alsace, Champagne et autres grands vins de France" Paris: Établissements Nicolas, 1927, pp.45 and 52.
NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, Bellows & Company display ad, 30 June 1942, (Proquest Historical Newspapers).
RATOUIS, Geoffrey "Ackerman 1811 L'épopée de la première Maison de fines bulles du Val de Loire" Angers: Imprimerie SETIG-Palussiére, 2011, p.316.
VAVASSEUR, Charles "Les vins de la Touraine" Poitiers: Société Française d'Imprimerie et de Librairie, 1933, p.68.
[Draft 2.] Apologies for the length - for better or worse I am my own editor
Since Gaston Huet is no longer available for interviews, and NYC is a long way from the Departmental Archives in Tours, I'll choose as inspiration one definition of history; that it is "the certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation." And since distant memories and a meager paper trail are going to be factors here, we'll just have to rely on the interwebs, correspondence, interlibrary loan, and texts from my bookshelf. As we'll see, there's enough out there, perhaps just enough, to piece together a probable story about this wine.
Gaston was 18 at the time he and his family moved to Vouvray from Paris. Some accounts say that Gaston's father Victor, gravely injured during WW-I and in delicate health, was the reason for the move to the country. But as the younger Huet indicates, it was a mutually beneficial decision. "My parents bought this property in autumn 1928 in order to satisfy my desire to live in the countryside. It had belonged for several generations to what we call "men of law", (hussiers, avocats, etc...)" he said in a 2000 letter. "They had little interest in exploiting the property and were selling the production to Negociants."
Huet was talking about the Massé-Viollet family, who were the previous proprietors of Le Haut Lieu. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s the family had been at times more involved in producing estate-bottled wine, as documented by an existing postcard image and records of a few prizes awarded to the wines (médaille de vermeil at the exposition of Tours 1881 and a diplôme d'honneur at Vouvray in 1897). But the estate was slowing down by the 1920s. 1924 was the last year Louis Massé-Viollet was listed as a member of the "Union Vinicole des propriétaires d'Indre-et-Loire" and in the following year, 1925, Charles Massé (a son, presumably?) had replaced Louis on the published membership list, possibly indicating a generational changeover prior to the Huet purchase in Autumn of 1928.
If the previous owners weren't making wine in the 1920s and were selling the Le Haut Lieu grapes to negociants, what then was the source of the excellent older vintages, the '19, '21, '24? These wines, which one can still find in today's marketplace, predate the Huet family's involvement as winemakers at the estate. What's the story there? In the same letter from 2000, Gaston gives us a clue - "the vintages prior to 1929 were purchased from the old vignerons by father or myself."
"Old vignerons," that's rather vague. And Huet says the previous owners had little or no interest in the winemaking business. Could the library vintages have come from a source other than Le Haut Lieu? Noel Pinguet, Gaston's son-in-law, gives us a little help here, by clarifying that the backstock "provient en fait du Mont, mais à cette époque le vignoble n’était pas individuellement reconnu." - It originally comes from Le Mont, but at that time the vineyards weren't individually recognized.-
It's a bit of a stretch for Pinguet to say "not individually recognized" in the greater sense, for Le Mont was indeed recognized by connoisseurs - it had already been listed in 1927 as one of the top Vouvray vineyards by wineseller Nicolas in their book series "Monseigneur le Vin." But perhaps he meant the practice of adding vineyard designation to the labels of bottled wine. That became more popular as the twentieth century unfolded.
To reinforce Pinguet's assertion that the old wines come from Le Mont, one need only look to earlier releases by Huet of these vintages, which have occasionally been graced with the Le Mont label. Jim Budd of JimsLoire blog fame wrote in 2009 "Today we have a brunch with this 1919 Le Mont Moelleux as the aperitif. [It] predates the founding of Domaine Huet, which happened nine years later." (see photo). Another sighting: In 1998 John Shafer of Shafer Vineyards told the LA Times "when I was at the Union Square Cafe in New York City, they brought out a Vouvray from my birth year, the 1924 Le Mont. I had never heard of a Vouvray that old; we were all dumbfounded. But it was very drinkable. It was basically dry to semi-dry. It was not oxidized. It still had some fruit. It was very pleasant, definitely not the kind of thing you leave in your glass." Probably the wine was Huet, since the USC has had a strong relationship with the US importer at the time, Robert Chadderdon. In any case, the "Le Haut Lieu" label is both vineyard and the Huet house brand. As John Gilman says "in some vintages the Le Haut Lieu bottlings will include some juice from the other small Huet holdings outside of the vineyard proper... in essence the Domaine Huet Le Haut Lieu cuvées are both a flagship 'brand name' for the estate, and often single vineyard offerings." It's not unreasonable then for a wine to wear the Le Haut Lieu label even if some (or in special cases all) of the grapes were sourced elsewhere.
Onward. Can we determine who owned Le Mont at the time the Huet was trying to purchase back vintages? John Gilman tells us that "the previous owners of the Le Mont vineyard had been the firm of Ackerman-Laurance, who used to label their wines from this vineyard as 'Clos le Mont." Good info, but did their ownership date as early as 1921? At least one source tells us that maison Ackerman had purchased two vineyards in Vouvray, Sens and Boisrideau, as early as 1844, so Vouvray was definitely on their radar. Some disorderlies among us have had occasion to try 1940s-50s Le Mont bottlings from chez Ackerman, whose managing director in the 30s (and maybe earlier) was Baron Raymond de Luze. He'd been associated with the house since 1914. Once Prohibition ended, De Luze courted the re-emerging American market for his firm's wines, setting up tastings and placing his best wines in high end shops. A 1942 Bellows and Co. ad announcing "An Historic Offering of Magnificent French Wines" in the New York Herald Tribune offers "Vouvray Clos le Mont 1921 Est. Bot. Baron Raymond de Luze" for $50 per case (in 2013 dollars that's $740). Impressively, that's more than they were asking for the 1934 Lafite or Haut-Brion. In the same ad, 1921 Yquem was twice Le Mont's price at $100/case and $125 for the 21 Yquem Creme de Tête. Heady stuff.
The important thing about the ad is that it says the 21 Le Mont was estate bottled and being sold under the Ackerman/de Luze marque, an indication of ownership at the time. Huet went on to purchase the vineyard from Ackerman-Laurence in 1957.
Richard Kelley adds another layer to the interesting story. In his research of the sourcing of the Huet estate's earliest vintages, he writes that "The reserves in the cellar predate the ownership of the Huet family and we know the bottles and magnums were purchased by Gaston from the restaurant Petit Riche in Paris sometime after the Le Haut Lieu was purchased."
Let's try to determine if it's plausible that Huet purchased the back vintages from the restaurant mentioned by Kelley. Luckily the place is still open for business. If we visit the current website of Au Petit Riche on rue Lepeletier in the 9th arrondissement (it's been open since 1854) we find that the owner at the time, a Monsieur Charles Bénard, was a Vouvrillon himself, and that the restaurant specialized in wine of Touraine and Anjou, which is still their specialty. The current carte des vins states that the restaurant has a cave in Rochecorbon near Vouvray, carved into the tuffeau, where they store and age 5000 bottles in a perfect natural environment. If this was the case in 1928, Huet didn't have to go to Paris to pick up the wine, the Au Petit Riche cellar was practically in his backyard. There's other evidence too. In 1904 a report published in the Revue de Viticulture describes a large contingent of Touraine winemakers, finding themselves in Paris for the Concours général agricole, had organized a banquet at Au Petit Riche. The article reminds us that the establishment "s'est spécialisé dans les vins de Touraine." Even more convincing is that the restaurant also advertised regularly in the newsletter "La Viticulture Tourangelle," the bi-monthly rag written specifically for Touraine vignerons. In issue after issue, one can find advertisements for Au Petit Riche - the only restaurant to consistently do so. Huet, as good a subscriber candidate as any, would surely have known about the restaurant, and it seems a likely source of the back vintages, including the 1921.
We've now made some headway regarding the vineyard source, the previous owners, and the provenance of the bottles. What can we find out about the vintage itself? Judging from the soundbite descriptions below, there was general agreement that it was an exceptional year.
"Incomparable year, exceptional. Wines of great race and fine appearance, full-bodied and very sweet. Appear to have a magnificent future."
-Monseigneur le Vin (1927)
"Very good quality, exceptional year, may be considered one of the best. Small harvest due to a late spring frost. 16 hectoliters per hectare, which sold from 900 to 1300 francs." -Charles Vavasseur (1933)
"Recognized as the greatest vintage of the decade. It was a very hot season throughout Europe (it was supposedly the greatest vintage for Chateau d’Yquem since 1847) with the harvest commencing in Vouvray on the 5th October." -Richard Kelley (richardkelley.co.uk)
Wouldn't it be great to find an analysis of the growing season written at the time by someone who was there, preferably a wine-savvy person? Well bada-bing, such a thing actually exists. Here's a quick translation of a report, written in late October 1921 by Auguste Chauvigné, who was secrétaire perpétuel of the Société d'agriculture, sciences, arts et belles-lettres du département d'Indre-et-Loire. He writes:
"First we must note that a late April frost, which has not affected us seriously for years, hit our vineyards in disastrous fashion - during a season which, from the beginning, has been exceptionally warm. If no heavy rain occurs in the next few weeks, we'll be able to say that it hasn't rained in Touraine for a year, except for some showers here and there.
The vines have been growing, flowering and fruiting in completely dry soil, and the lack of precipitation has been accompanied by months of excessive heat. The blazing sun has continued to this day (October 22). Under these conditions, the harvest and the nature of the wine can not fail to be influenced.
No disease in the vineyards except a little mildew in August, and maturity was achieved despite the excessive heat. Because of the [stressed vines], though, the harvest was late, especially for a year which began so precociously. Acidity in the musts remained high until last week, causing many growers to delay harvesting;. After that it fell sharply and suddenly.
The wines that one can evaluate at this point are healthy and of remarkable beauty: they have an atypically deep color, a velvety texture, are perfumed and reflect the high quality we expected. They appear to be wines which will drink well young and they reach unusually high levels of alcohol. 12° is not uncommon, and even lesser wines reach 10°. Yields are much lower. Winemakers in areas less impacted by the frost had a good half-harvest : but they are rare and aren't enough to raise the overall average yield. While some properties may have barely reached 7 hectoliters per hectare, many more have only 15 hectoliters. All combined the year will average no higher than 20 hectoliters per hectare.
For the white grapes, naturally, conditions on the vines were the same, but the frost caused more severe damage [than it did to reds] and there was no subsequent regrowth. Yields there are even smaller and do not exceed a quarter of an average crop, that is to say from 12 to 15 hectoliters per hectare.
The wines are very sweet: good crus reach 15°. Those that have the best qualities of the year, Vouvray, Montlouis, Azay-le-Rideau, etc. will have great reputations. The quality and low yield will influence prices ; these are not yet well established, but should vary from 300 to 500 francs per 250 liters for those of lesser quality and 500 to 800 francs for the better properties."
So: Very low yields due to frost in April, a hot, dry growing season, healthy grapes from heat-stressed vines, more passerillage than botrytis, deeply colored, higher-alcohol wines. A sale in May 2011 by caveprivee.com provides an alcohol level for the 1921 Huet of 12.9%. And if you are curious about the age of the vines - after all, this isn't that long after phylloxéra, we have this quote from Gaston Huet. "The reconstitution of the Vouvray vineyards after the phylloxera disaster was from 1893 to 1906. The best sites were replanted first... In 1921 some vines could have been between 20 and 25 years old. It should be noted that in very hot and dry years, yields are low, even in younger vines."
Bottles of 1921 have certainly had a colorful history. Born during Prohibition, they were unknown in America until at least the 1930s when Baron de Luze began to promote the Ackerman portfolio here. During WW-II, vignerons in Vouvray concealed their rarest, oldest and best bottles, like the 1921, from the occupying (and perhaps even liberating) forces. Here's a great quote by Don and Petie Kladstrup in their book Wine and War (2001) "André Foreau, a winemaker from Vouvray, buried his best bottles under the beans, tomatoes and cabbages of his vegetable garden. Foreau's brother-in-law Gaston Huet used the natural caves of the Loire Valley to hide his stocks of wine. Then he planted weeds and bushes in front of the caves to conceal their entrances."
As we saw earlier, 1921 Le Mont was being sold in the US by 1942. By the 50s, its reputation had grown somewhat, at least among geeks in the know. At a 1954 Jeebus in Boston, André Simon's Wine and Food quarterly describes a potent lineup where in the final flight the 1921 de Luze Vouvray Le Mont was served AFTER the 1921 Yquem, with these remarks: "With the dessert course the two 1921's proved to be excellent (...) The Yquem of this great year was everything to be expected. The Vouvray... possessed a fullness and richness of body superior to the Yquem, a more delicate bouquet and was amazingly sound, considering its age."
An interesting tale, no? Even being limited by imperfections of memory and inadequacies of documentation we seem to have found a few good pointers toward the truth, and for now that's the best we have. It's probable that the 1921 Le Haut Lieu was made at Le Mont, which at the time was likely owned by Ackerman-Laurance and supervised by Raymond de Luze. The previous proprietors of Le Haut Lieu, famille Massé-Viollet, had ceased making estate wine due to changing family priorities. After purchasing the Le Haut Lieu estate, Victor or Gaston Huet acquired the stocks of these earlier Le Mont wines from the Paris restaurant Au Petit Riche, perhaps from their cellar in nearby Rochecorbon.
And that brings us back to the present. There it is, this living piece of history, staring up at me from the wine list at a NYC establishment. Is the wine still sound, still alive today, after 90+ years? Here's what Anthony Hanson MW had to say in the 20 May 2004 Christie's London auction catalog:
"Olive-golden, with tawny rim, and some floaters clouding its limpidity. The nose initially evokes a mushroom-picking expedition through damp undergrowth, then clears to remind me of roasted plums, with mouthwatering freshness. The palate is astonishingly concentrated and powerful, with lovely crisp finish and a fantastic, long aftertaste. Beautiful acidity, outstanding wine, this is perfection. How does it compare with Yquem 1921? 'It is more drinkable than Yquem 21', says David Elswood, 'with greater freshness.' "
And Noel Pinguet's note for caveprivee in 2011: "A fine sediment, and a distinct brown centre. Otherwise bright. Mid depth with a pale green/brown rim. Savoury elements and a smoky, salty tang to the nose. Not unlike a dry Oloroso. Very delicate on entry with more sweet elements. Faintly caramel. Lovely poised acidity. Very light, yet persistent. Not as intense as the 1947, but still very fine." (This may be a translation of Richard Kelley's tasting note from 2004 - I'm not quite sure whose it is.)
There's only one thing left to do. Find a coterie of like-minded Vouvray lovers like Joe Dougherty, Kirk Wallace and Michael Lewis, crack open a bottle, and taste what's there, firsthand.
Which we did.
Mmmmm.
SOURCES
"Au Petit Riche, restaurant de cuisine traditionnelle à Paris 9"
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www.restaurant-aupetitriche.com
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www.restaurant-aupetitriche.com
BARNES, Julian "The Sense of an Ending" New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, p.18.
BÉAL, Claude "Mémoire en Images. Le Vouvray de Sainte-Radegonde à Noizay" Joué-Lès-Tours: Éditions Alan Sutton, 2000, p.106.
BUDD, Jim "1919 Le Mont Vouvray Moelleux Huet" 26 April 2009
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jimsloire.blogspot.com
CHAUVIGNÉ, Auguste "Vignoble de la Touraine" Paris: Revue de Viticulture, 1921, tome LV, pp.326-327.
CHRISTIE'S "Fine Wines Featuring Historic Vintages from Gaston Huet and Vintage Cigars" London, Sale 6904, 20 May 2004.
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www.christies.com
DEROUET, James "Histoire de la vigne en Touraine 1830-1930" Chemillé-sur-Indrois: Éditions Hugues de Chivré, 2013, p.232.
"Domaine Huet Le Haut-Lieu (Moelleux) 1921"
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www.caveprivee.com
F.C. "Touraine: Concours générale agricole" Paris: Revue de Viticulture, 1904, tome XXI, no. 534, pp.290-291.
GILMAN, John "Domaine Gaston Huet - Vouvray's Timeless Crown Jewel" in View from the Cellar, Nov-Dec 2007 number 12, pp.1-33, (see pp.11-12, 13).
HUET, Gaston, typed correspondence with Donald Rice, 20 Juillet 2000.
KELLEY Richard "Vouvray Grower Profiles Domaine Huet Tasting Notes - 1919 to 1959"
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www.richardkelley.co.uk
KLADSTRUP, Don and Petie "Wine & War. The French, the Nazis and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure" New York: Broadway Books, 2001, p.95.
LA TIMES, "What Are You Drinking?" 14 Jan 1998, http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jan/14/food/fo-8005
"LA VITICULTURE TOURANGELLE organe de l'Union vinicole des propriétaires d'Indre-et-Loire" (revue bi-mensuelle) Tours: (année 27, no.1, 15 jan 1924, p.7) (année 28, no.1, 15 jan 1925, p.7) (année 32, no.6, -mensuelle- 15 juin 1929, p.94)
MARTO, Joseph P. "Memorable Meals" London: Wine and Food a Gastronomical Quarterly, Autumn 1954, no. 83, pp.200-202.
MONTORGUEIL, Georges "Monseigneur le Vin Livre Quatrième. Anjou-Touraine, Alsace, Champagne et autres grands vins de France" Paris: Établissements Nicolas, 1927, pp.45 and 52.
NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, Bellows & Company display ad, 30 June 1942, (Proquest Historical Newspapers).
RATOUIS, Geoffrey "Ackerman 1811 L'épopée de la première Maison de fines bulles du Val de Loire" Angers: Imprimerie SETIG-Palussiére, 2011, p.316.
VAVASSEUR, Charles "Les vins de la Touraine" Poitiers: Société Française d'Imprimerie et de Librairie, 1933, p.68.
[Draft 2.] Apologies for the length - for better or worse I am my own editor