Domaine Nicolas Joly - Coulée-de-Serrant 2014

Bettane & Desseauve

About the wine:

Rooty, with infused notes of fresh herbs, hay and white flowers, this tapering Chenin seems austere at this stage. Jansenistic, withdrawn into its bitters, it stands out with an agile tactile sensation and a dimension that will unfold over the years. Patience.

About the domain :

La Coulée de Serrant is a winegrowing Eden, a place where life exults. Nicolas Joly, a pioneer of biodynamic viticulture, has made his wine a world-renowned brand. He can also count on the vision of his daughter Virginie to continue raising this estate to the top. Four hectares in Savennières and four hectares in Roche-Aux-Moines, a vineyard grazed by sheep, pecked by chickens, worked by hand, in symbiosis with nature. Observation, experimentation, model viticulture and a must-see estate.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the wine:

A beautiful deep golden color, the 2014 "Coulée" announces itself in its classic robe, a sign of the over-ripeness sought by the Joly family with grapes marked by botrytis. On the nose, after long aeration (always necessary for this wine), it displays a remarkable, shifting complexity: yellow plum, butter, honey, then verbena, fresh grass, a touch of menthol, cold stone... A soft, tender attack opens onto a very open palate (much more so than the 2013 at the same time), powerful, dense, warm, sustained by a light, smoky oakiness and that incomparable verticality with accents of terroir that seems to plunge us into the center of the earth. A bottle that leaves no one indifferent, as always, still in the reserve of its youth, and which only long ageing will fully reveal.

About the domain :

This venerable 7-hectare vineyard, planted with old chenin vines clinging to schist slopes, was created by the Cistercians in 1130, and is one of the few monopoly appellations in France. Strengthened over the centuries by illustrious and crowned connoisseurs, its aura has taken on an international dimension since Nicolas Joly, the French "pope" of biodynamics, presides over its destiny, accompanied today by his daughter Virginie. The wine derives its original, unique character from grapes harvested at over-ripeness - or even botrytized - in four or five passages. In the cellar, we don't use new wood to mask the terroir, but rather 500-l barrels. And as little intervention as possible.

Guide des Vins Gault & Millau

About the domain :

Nicolas Joly is now accompanied by his daughter Virginie. Without touching the father figure, we must admit that the wines have become more precise and delicate in recent years. La Coulée de Serrant is now at the height of the quality of its terroir. A schist terroir that gives the wine length, precision and subtle sparkle. The wines need time and, above all, aeration.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

A few residual sugars don't diminish the saline vigor of the bitters: a spicy profile with a slender frame in this wine with notes of kumquat, which seems to have gained in serenity and purity, but is still austere and destined for glorious aging.

About the domain :

The exceptional Coulée de Serrant vineyard stretches along the edge of a schistose cliff falling directly into the Loire, near Angers. The nature of the site and the quality of its exposure have enabled it to stand out from the crowd for centuries. Restored by Denise Joly in the 1960s, the estate was taken over by her son Nicolas. This brilliant agitator of ideas is a fundamentalist of biodynamic viticulture, which he has made his own at La Coulée de Serrant since 1981. A proportion of botrytized grapes (to a greater or lesser extent depending on the vintage) lends a baroque complexity of aromas and a singular breadth to these extraordinary whites. Nicolas Joly's daughter Virginie is now in charge of the domaine. Some wines, like the 2016 or 2019, can be flamboyant, sculpted by an impressive concentration of dry extract. Others, like the 2020, show a perplexing lack of precision. These wines require long aeration and a serving temperature of around 12 degrees, so not too cool. They are even served at room temperature during tastings at the estate!