Saw this and picked up a few at K&L, this usually goes for $75 and up. I know Joly can be polarizing but his wines IMO are quite interesting even if you get a dud or two sometimes…
- J
Intriguing… tell me more. I’ve never heard of this producer. Even at the discount, seems on the expensive side. How does it compare to Huet for Chenin Blanc?
I can’t speak for this particular vintage, but we had a bottle of 2005 of this wine yesterday. The chef tasted this wine, and came up with a food pairing for this - see the thread TNs: Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal French Wine Night (+ 1 Portuguese Sparkling Rosé) - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
I’m fairly certain that drinking this before 2019 or before would be doing a serious dis-service to the wine.
Some links of note regarding this wine:
I’ve only had one Huet wine - however, I think comparing Joly to Huet is an Apples to Jackfruit comparison 
Cheers, Jay
Anyone else jump on this? I’m on the fence.
I’m a sucker for a story (and 2010 Loire Chenin), so I bought a few. It will give me something to serve to Frank and Brig at some point.
I’m kind of hoping they run out before I break down. These can be very interesting wines, and the prices through regular channels are insane now after a change of importers. This selling price is just over HALF of MA wholesale.
Has anyone noticed any changes since Virginie has taken over most of the operation?
As others said, its not really comparable to Huet as they are two very different wines. In my limited experience Joly wines have a bit of a more eccentric flavor profile. Huet chenin blancs are classic bright fruit with tons of zest while Joly wines can sometimes have atypical chenin flavors like burnt rind, some rubber, sometimes overripe fruit (not in a jammy way but a more like in a funky way). It is quite interesting in that aspect but also the wine can be very deep. They are also quite unpredictable at times but can also be a stunner when all things line up.
When did that happen? I’ve had wines from the past couple of releases, and they are very similar to what I remember. If anything, they might be just a touch less funky/weird, but not out of line with the cleaner bottles I got from years past. It’s a little tough to tell because of the extreme bottle variation, but I think the wines are either exactly the same or maybe a bit more consistent.
Joel,
Thanks for the heads-up. I picked up a few and would not have noticed otherwise.
I opened a bottle today:
Coravin 6/20/14: Surprisingly deep golden color for such a young wine; intense but complex nose with beeswax, lanolin, citrus fruit, apricot, very slight baking spice; palate is medium-full bodied, fully dry, good acidity at first and throughout while still being a bit waxy and coating on the palate (good!), a bit jarring at first with the flavors like each thing hits you in turn without gliding into the next, needs a lot of time to integrate, some white fruit throughout that fills into apricot towards the end, great freshness, very slight salinity towards the end; finish is long and ends with a minerality/salinity not seen on most of the rest of the palate, high acidity is refreshing for the next sip. This is fascinating. A completely different experience from every other Chenin Blanc I’v’e tried, this is obviously very high quality, young, needs a lot of time to integrate, and is a serious wine. I could just smell the nose all day. A great buy at K&L given the discount. 94-95++ with potential for even more greatness.
Update: As this warms up, it gets even more integrated and even more complex on the palate with some tangy citrus rind. This is a true world-class wine even now, and I’m looking forward to what it will become.
A new experience for me, and it was a great one. Thanks Joel for the heads-up! You can send me wine recommendations anytime. =)