Nicolas Joly, 2016 Update
Tasting the latest releases from Nicolas Joly is never going to be anything short of fascinating. I have encountered the man (or these days, increasingly his daughter, Virginie, pictured) and his wines many times now, over many years. Each time I have learnt a little more about the wines, and come to comprehend them better than before. These are complex wines which, in my opinion, require a lot of consideration if you really want to understand what makes them tick.
Picked ripe, often with a fairly significant proportion of botrytised fruit included in the mix (Nicolas prefers more, Virginie less, but to me any percentage greater than zero is ‘significant’) I think it is fair to say that the wines lead in the vinifications and the Joly family follow. Alcohol levels tend to be high, and thus the wines are dry but rich in botrytis flavour; I find noble rot delightful in the context of a sweet wine but I don’t think it helps in dry wines, certainly when it comes to their evolution in bottle. The acid-diminishing effects of the malolactic fermentation, bearing in mind the fruit was already picked ripe and rich, doesn’t help to enliven the structure on the palate either. It all makes for an unusual and distinctive style, and not one in which I have a great deal of confidence when it comes to the cellar.
Nevertheless I always look forward to tasting the latest vintage. On this occasion Virginie poured the three cuvées in the 2014 vintage, the first two – Les Vieux Clos and Clos de la Bergerie – from bottle, while La Coulée de Serrant was a sample from cuve. The 2014 Les Vieux Clos opened proceedings with a fairly typical onslaught of Joly character, showing some rather diffuse aromas and flavours reminiscent of warm hay and summer meadows, lightly oxidised in character, and although there was nothing that spoke overtly of the 8% to 10% botrytised fruit including in the mix here, I am certain it is only a matter of time (maybe three to five years) before this becomes very apparent. The 2014 Clos de la Bergerie has exactly the same vital statistics as the 2014 Les Vieux Clos, but on the palate the style is rather more extreme, with more overt hazelnutty oxidation here, and with some animally horse-like notes. I feel it is a wine only the most committed adherents of Joly’s philosophies will enjoy. If I had to drink one of them, I would certainly choose Le Vieux Clos in preference.
