Nicolas Joly and the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant: Vineyards
The Château de la Roche aux Moines sits close to the waters of the Loire, or rather one of its short-lived distributaries. In some ways its location is analogous to the première côte in Vouvray, although here in Savennières there are two striking differences. First, as the Loire turns southwards here, many of the best south-facing vineyards are not directly facing the river, but sit along the many small valleys – or coulées as they are known – carved by small streams as they run down to the Loire. Second, and perhaps rather more obvious, these vineyards are located not on the Bassin Parisien but on the Massif Armoricain. Thus the rocks into which the vines dig their roots are predominantly schist, complicated by other igneous and metamorphic forms, all of which are very different to the limestones and flints of Vouvray. The result is the wines here will always be very distinct to those found in this other grand Loire Valley appellation.
Having already extensively addressed the issue of biodynamic viticulture on the previous page, I should turn to look next at the vineyards and the associated cuvées. Nicolas and Virginie Joly have vines in three Savennières appellations, accounting for approximately 22.5 hectares. Working from the bottom up the first and largest area of vines is dedicated to the generic Savennières which is today labelled as Les Vieux Clos (or Les Clos Sacrés for the US market), although in the past it was named Becherelle. Virginie Joly tells me that this is sourced from four separate plots of vines, some directly behind the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant, and some next to the road on the way out to Epiré. The soils naturally vary across the sites, and may feature schist, quartz and sand. Altogether there are about 12 hectares, the vines are on average between 15 and 20 years old, and the fruit is harvested usually at 30-35 hl/ha.
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