Our lunch group deviated from our usual big and bold red wine theme to explore the wines from Loire. I deviated from my usual note taking role and just sat back and enjoyed the fellowship, food and wines.
There were a few remarkable wines that I remember enough to make note of so here tis:
1995 NICOLAS JOLY CLOS de la COULEE de SERRANT SAVENNIERES-COULEE de SERRANT- Chenin Blanc; 15.5% abv with 5 g/l RS; the color was browning yellow gold; as with the color, the nose was highly suggestive of an oxidised wine with walnut and sherry like aromas; on the palate, caramel and butterscotch blend in with ripe peach and apricot notes; it was rich and very creamy; I’m presuming this bottle is indicative of the norm with its high alcohol and residual sugar content.
This is a single property in Savennières yet it has its own appellation. Exclusively white wines are made here from the Chenin Blanc grape, but perhaps the main reason Coulée de Serrant is so talked about is because its owner is Nicolas Joly, one of the leading proponents of biodynamic viticulture.
That was my thought too Neal. In fact, I looked it up to make sure i had it right; thus, the discovery of the appellation and the property have the same name.
Theodore, this may well have had a neck tag. It was placed by the one who brought it in an ice water bucket prior to serving so it may have come off. I`ll check with him and get back.
Does your bottle have the same imprint in the neck area?
Thanks for the note, Blake. These Joly Serrant wines confound me a bit. I’ve had some brilliant ones (which lead me to buy a bunch) and I’ve had some that are just puzzling. I don’t know that I really get what Joly is after, and/or maybe I’m just not committed to Chenin. But…with the right amount of age, from a good year, they can be standouts, despite the high alc and residuals.
Yes, and as far as I can tell he doesn’t make enough moelleux to justify its own label. It’s really just a little sticker so if the bottle were soaked it would likely come off.
Although it does not address the sulphur issue, here’s what I just found John:
"Coulée de Serrant has a long and proud history. Once a monastic vineyard- parts of the estate have been under vine for almost 900 consecutive vintages to date- it lies completely within the boundaries of Savennières, and is actually one of the few estates in France that is also its own appellation.
Nicolas Joly had a successful career in finance when he took over his family’s estate in the Loire in 1977. “They told me that my mother had been running the estate well, but in an old fashioned way, and it was now time for some modernity. I was told that if I started using weed killers, I’d save 14,000 Francs.” He took this advice, but regretted it almost immediately; the biodiversity in his vineyards plummeted. Even the soil seemed to die. Joly wasn’t a follower of the green movement when he picked up a book on biodynamics; he was simply trying to find a better way to manage his vineyards. Since then, he has become one of the great authorities in the field, and his holdings have been farmed using biodynamic principles since 1984.
Nicolas now manages the winery with his daughter, Virginie. Following biodynamic principles, the Joly’s use compost from their own herd of cows, donkeys, horses, and goats. To limit the negative effects of monoculture, more than a dozen different native plants are found throughout the vineyards, allowing each root to develop different micro-organisms. Sheep feed on the cover crop and leave manure. In the spring, a chicken coop is set up in the areas with snails. Biodynamic preparations are made from medicinal plants (mostly from the winery property) including: sage, sorrel, willow, nettle, elm, oak bar, arnica, and blackthorn. Horses are used to plow between the rows, and of course, no pesticides come anywhere near these pristine vineyards. Grapes are harvested late, so that the wines gain in complexity. In the opinion of the Joly family, Chenin achieves complexity only when it is fully ripe. To harvest the most perfectly ripe berries, harvesting is done in several passes. In the winery, the process is as natural and hands-off as possible. There is no chaptilization, only indigenous yeasts are employed, there is no settling of the grape must, and natural temperature variation is allowed during fermentation. Because fermentations take place naturally, they may last 2 to 4 months or more. While this is a terrifying prospect to most winemakers, it is simply how things are done at this famed estate.
“Coulée de Serrant is a remarkable estate and is one of only 3 single estate appellations within France today (the other 2 being Romanée Conti and Château-Grillet). Its sheltered, southwest-facing vineyard is an ancient monastic vineyard and is located within the boundaries of the Savennières Appellation. The 7 hectares of vines have been farmed on biodynamic lines since 1982 and owner Nicolas Joly is one of the most passionate advocates of this controversial approach to viticulture. This wine is fermented and matured in wood and is bottled after a very light and delicate filtration. This is one of the greatest dry white wines in France - it needs at least 5 years bottle age and wines from the best vintages will last and last.” —Jasper Morris"
Savennieres is one of the warmest parts of the central Loire and also had good wind and less rain than neighboring areas; also the exposition is south facing.
Add it all up and it leads to ripe grapes, the workd’s best expression of Chenin Blanc.
I went to a lecture of Mr. Joly with my old boss who, when he tried the wine, asked if it was supposed to taste like Sherry. For mere mortal winemakers such obvious flaws would not be tolerated. But when you are a BD prophet none of the regular rules apply. I did have a beautiful 89 once from there, but the other 20ish wines I’ve tried were much more “natural” if you will. My .02.
I’m going to offer my usual dissenting opinion. As far as natural, biodynamic wines go, these wines are incredibly consistent
ly terrible. I’ve had them many times and they all consistently go into the dump bucket. It’s a producer absolutely responsible for the bad rap that natural wine gets. So many flaws: chemical, oxidation, volatility, excess alcohol. You can use the wines to teach a class about wine flaws.
As to the thing that Jasper Morris wrote, did everyone change the meaning of “greatest” and not tell me?
Yes, I attended an LDM/Dressner tasting a few months ago where the proprietress of Dom. du Closel was there. Her wines were excellent, but not terribly ripe – completely different from the estate’s lush wines in the early 2000s, when I tasted them more regularly. She said they have gone to a low sulfur regime and you couldn’t do that with botrytis. So, basically, the grapes are picked much earlier and the wine has undergone an identity transplant.
As I said, the wines were first-rate, and it might be a change for the better, but they certainly quite different from what I had come to expect from Savennieres.
I’ve always thought of Joly of what happens when the winemaking philosophy is the end, rather than the means to an end. Every wine is exactly as it should be. Occasionally they actually taste great.
