Nicolas Joly and the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant: Wines
To understand some of the controversy it is perhaps necessary to comprehend Nicolas Joly’s approach to making the wine. I will explore this in some detail here, although it can perhaps be best summed up by Virginie Joly (pictured), and her response to a question I put to her in 2013. Wishing to ascertain who had more responsibility for the work in the cellars, I asked her “so, who makes the wine, you or Nicolas?” to which the response was – said with a wry smile, admittedly – “well, we don’t ‘make’ anything.” The implication is that the metaphysical transformation from freshly picked fruit to wine is a natural process within which Nicolas and Virginie are not really involved, and that what happens is all down to the vineyard, and its microbial biome, or perhaps even the biodynamic faeries. This is perhaps a problem; the viticulture is rigorous, the adherence to biodynamics solid, the care taken in maintaining and improving the health of the soil admirable. But then, once the fruit hits the cellars, it is suddenly ‘hands off’. I agree with anyone who would assert that great wine is made in the vineyard, but great winemakers are still always at hand to nudge it in the right direction. I don’t feel there is any nudging going on here.
A major influence on the Joly style comes with botrytis. It should come as no surprise that Chenin Blanc planted on the slopes of the Savennières vineyard, a stone’s throw from the waters of the Loire, are no less prone to noble rot than it would be along the banks of the Layon, or upriver in Vouvray. It is only in the last few decades that the appellation has really established such a strong reputation for its dry wines, and in years gone by demi-sec and moelleux cuvées were a much stronger feature of the appellation than they are today (a few of the grande dame domaines, most notably Château d’Epiré and Domaine aux Moines, still produce such cuvées from time to time).
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