Last March, I got the chance to seat down with
Sarah Hwang from
Domaine Huet and
Kiralyudvar. A dynamic, charming young lady, Sarah was kind enough to let me bug her with a few questions on the domains and her journey in the wine world. She’s now in charge for the US market for both Huet and Kiralyudvar while at the same time keeping an eye on the UK market.
So Sarah, how did your father get involved at Huet and Kiralyudvar? My father is a physicist by training. I always knew him with a passion for wine. He’s always been reading books on wine trying to learn more and develop a better overall understanding.
One summer back in 1997, my brother and I took a family trip with my parents to Budapest in Hungary.
Of course, my dad convinced us that we had to go and visit the Tokaj region. At the time they were no highway so he took us quite some time to reach Tokaj (nowadays the trip is much faster thanks to a brand new road). This is a beautiful region but not developed at all back then and which was in a recovery process. But my dad fell in love with the place. By chance, some land was for sale and he decided to go for it. After looking for a place to vinify, we found the Kiralyudvar estate and bought it. So the birth of Kiralyudvar for us is 1997. We farm about 75 hectares, 50 of which we cultivate for winemaking and my father had in mind to make the opposite of what was being made at the time. Indeed the majority of the wines were coming from high yields and were over extracted.
So Kiralyudvar is really my dad’s baby and the domain is such a peaceful place. We love the house so much so you can actually see it on the label: indeed, on the front label is an original floor plan (late 15th century).
Not so long after that, my dad made the connection with Robert Chadderdon (who later became to importer).
Robert had been working with Gaston Huet for over 30 years. In 2002 Gaston became really sick and was looking for help since none of his 3 children wanted to take over the full responsibilities. Ironically, one of his kids, Jean went to wine school, worked about a year in the winery and then realized it wasn’t his passion. He is now a successful photographer, very talented.
Marie-Françoise, Gaston daughter, married Noel Pinguet in 1968. After they moved to Paris for Noel’s job, Gaston asked them to move back so he could mentor Noel in the winery. They both accepted. Noel started as harvest worker and in 1978, he got the full winemaking responsibilities. So a few people realize that Noel, now in his mid sixties, has been in charge for a long time now.
Chadderdon introduced my father to Gaston. They got along very well and with both of them having a scientist background, they had a very similar vision on many things. In 2003 we took control of Domaine Huet.
Many rumors at the time said because of new ownership that the style would change, that a new winemaker would be in charge etc… but we never wanted to change anything. Domaine Huet is so rich in history that we had too much respect to impose changes and we’re happy to have the same talented team still with us.
My father now spends time in Hungary and in the Loire every year and for every harvest. He wants to learn and loves to be involved.
How did you, Sarah, get involved in the wine business?
I was born and raised in New-Jersey. I went to psychology school and worked in the health industry in NY. It was very intense and I started to have 2nd thoughts. Was it really what I wanted to do? I took a break and in 2006 and went to harvest at Huet first and then at Kiralyudvar.
2006 was really difficult, I remember they started to pick the Clos du Bourg first. On the 2nd day, when I got there, it started to rain and I remember getting out of the car and then starting immediately my first ever harvest! On the very same day, I cut my pinkie very bad. I did not want to stop since I was here to work and wanted to show and lead by example. And I did not want to have a special treatment because of my name. Unfortunately, the rain did not stop and my pinkie never got time to heal. Indeed, it stayed wet for all the harvest time. So even until now, I did not get my feeling back in my finger! The harvest was tough physically because in Vouvay the vines are pretty low to the ground. In Tokaj, it is quite different. The vines are higher which makes it easier but the rows are very long and it’s cold ! It can even get icy in October and of course you cannot wear gloves because you have to pick specific berries (in the case of the sweet Tokaji). So someone drops you in the middle of nowhere at 5 in the morning and you do 2 rows a day, by yourself.
But to me, I had to do it and I wanted to learn.
I came back to NY with the will to learn and explore the wine business. I got a job at Acker Merrall. My primary involvement with Acker Merrall & Condit was with their wine brokerage, though I did help with the auction house quite a bit and got to understand how the industry works.
I worked there over 1.5 year and loved the experience (07-08). I was lucky because I was there when the market was at its peak.
I then wanted to learn French so I moved to France. I thought it was the next logical step. I learned French in Tours, while living there for 9-10 months. I also spent 1-2 months in Kiralyudvar (which is the family true baby. My brother takes care of the web site, we design the label etc…)
I came back home and got involved into the US market for both Domaine Huet and Kiralyudvar.
I still go to France every couple of months and when I go I stay with Noel and Marie-Françoise. I feel like at home, it’s a true family for me. We are really involved, we’re always exchanging at least an email a day. This is far from being a corporate operation.
What do you see in your future? Would you like to make wine?
I just try not to think about it, everything happens for a reason. We now have Benjamin Joliveau being trained by Noel. He’s 29, born raised in Vouvray. Noel knows him since he’s a baby. He went to wine school in Aix en Provence and did internship in South Africa, Australia and Hungary. For the last year and a half, Noel has been training him. Nevertheless, Huet is Noel’s life and he will stay involved forever. But it’s nice to see the new generation coming while the history and style being highly respected.
What was the reaction of the locals when you bought Huet?
At 1st people were skeptical, maybe even more in Hungary. People were questioning our intentions. But we went into it knowing we were not going to change everything since the wines were great. It was an investment to boost the company. The team remained the same and we’re happy with that.
Is your father interested in buying other domains?
Well, we have our hands full !! I’m sure the rest of the family would tell him to calm down. But to invest in such not so popular regions was a testament to his passion about wine
Do you have the same palate as your father?
I’ve been lucky enough to be exposed to many different wines but I’m not sure my dad has the same palate as mine. He certainly knows what he likes and when offered a red Burgundy, he can’t say no!
In my family, we all have different tastes. Dinners are fun, wines are coming from everywhere and we surprise each others.
But we got from him the desire to try new things, to be open.
And talking about trying new things, in 2007, this is the 1st year we’re doing a sparkling. Furmint is very similar to Chenin Blanc, the terroir is great and the acidity is there so we thought: let’s try to do this. We called it Pezsgő meaning sparkling in Hungarian. We liked the wine, we thought it was cool. Release coincided with the new importer in the US so it was nice little treat. We made 200 cases only and the response is great. Great thing is that They’re easy to pair with food.
Every year, my dad tries to do something new. We’re now looking at biodynamic practices. The test parcel in Henye (same vineyard used for the sparkling). Surprisingly, we saw differences even in the 1st year. We have a more even ripening. We got certified last January.
Domaine Huet is also certified biodynamic since 1990! They were among the very first with Nicolas Joly.
So what do you usually drink?
Well I try not to drink everyday but it’s hard ! I love having a glass of wine though, see which one is matching the food I’m going to have. I don’t like to drink the same wine over and over. A good friend who works in a wine store here, picks wines randomly and send me mixed cases. I learn a lot and it’s a lot of fun. But it’s hard to give any favorites, it depends on my mood, food etc…
Of course I love Kiralyudvar, especially the Ilona, named after my mum. Fully botrytised grapes, aged 6 months in barrels (28 months for 2003). It creates a totally different style from the regular Tokaji.
I also like the Aszú which is always at least 6 puttonyos (a minimum of 150 grams per liter of residual sugar).
Noel always says the demi-sec is the perfect expression of chenin and terroir of vouvray. The marriage of acidity and sugar is perfect.
