Nicolas Joly Family - La Coulée de Serrant 2024 -AOC Coulee de Serrant
Nicolas Joly - La Coulée de Serrant 2024 -AOC Coulée de Serrant (Savennières, Loire Valley)
Terroir: The vineyard is one of only a handful of French monopole appellations, an entire appellation comprising a single vineyard under the stewardship of one estate. This steep, south facing site is renowned for its schist soils interspersed with quartz. The remarkably shallow topsoil (sitting around 20cm deep) forces the vines to root deep into the fractured bedrock. Farmed partly solely by hand and horse, the vine age sits between 35 and 80 years old, with this vintage sourced from older sections of the vineyard over 50 years of age.
Winemaking Notes: Fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts at ambient temperature. The wine goes through full malolactic fermentation naturally, followed by a period of maturation over 11 months in used oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered before bottling. The steady vintage of 2024 has created a profoundly complex wine, with notes of quince, ripe pear and chamomile, layered with honey, crushed stone and subtle spice. The palate is dense yet vibrant, driven by incisive acidity and saline tension. Concentrated, textured and deeply mineral, it unfolds with remarkable length and quiet power. One for the ages.
Alcohol: 13.8%
Home to the Joly family for generations, the legendary 7-hectare clos has been alive with vines since 1130. Perched on the steep, sun-soaked schist-filled slopes, every square centimetre is farmed by hand and horse—machines simply can't handle the terrain. Beneath the surface, shallow soils of schist fuel the wine's intensity, all guided by the rhythms of biodynamics since 1984. Vines are aged between 40 and 80 years. The aspect is to the south.
Le Clos de la Coulée de Serrant is a vineyard responsible for making the world’s most formidable Chenin Blancs, fine and elusive in youth, deeply complex and powerful with age. First planted by Cistercian Monks in the year 1130, it is a 7 ha walled vineyard on a very steep schist slope above the Loire River near Angers. There is virtually no topsoil, the vines cling to the crumbly schist rocks. It is one of just 3 French Appellations to have a Monopole, that is, a single vineyard that has its own appellation and is owned by one estate (along with the likes of DRC & Château-Grillet).
The wines are made according to biodynamic practices (since 1980) by the world’s foremost thinker, philosopher and practitioner of biodynamic wine farming, Nicolas Joly. The reputation of the estate, the man and the wines is unquestionable and needs little introduction. These are perhaps the world’s most important wines philosophically when it comes to understanding biodynamic practices, and they are surely the most singular Chenin Blancs on the planet. Considering the significance and longevity of these wines, we think the pricing is nothing short of extraordinary.
