Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Early retirement at Domaine Huët

Widely respected winemaker Noël Pinguet will leave Domaine Huët three years early after agreeing to a short handover period. Pinguet, the son-in-law of the revered Gaston Huët, had joined the winery in 1976 and been in charge of winemaking since 1986. Following the death of Gaston, majority ownership of Huët was purchased by Anthony Hwang, an American who also owns the Hungarian estate Királyudvar in Tokaji. The Domaine will be run by Hwang's children, Sarah (President) and Stefan. Winemaking duties will be shared by Jean-Bernard Berthomé and Benjamin Joliveau, and Sarah Hwang has been keen to emphasise that it will be business as usual under the pair, and that the handover has been underway for some months already.

Additionally, Sarah Hwang has been keen to hose down speculation that Pinguet's departure is due to differences of opinion, with Decanter and Jim Budd reporting that differences in opinion over winemaking matters were behind the surprise departure. Hopefully this important Loire winery will keep up its impeccable standards going forward.

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