TN: 2012 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant

  • 2012 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières-Coulée de Serrant (12/21/2015)
    Popped and poured, yellow-gold with glints of copper. Lovely nose of fresh apricot, ripe pear, lime zest, almond slices and an impression of minerals. A subtle note of petrol develops as this warms and aerates. Medium body, nicely concentrated with a plush mouthfeel. An absolutely piercing expression of stone fruits and saline minerals intertwine, seamlessly juxtaposing quiet beauty with underlying power in beguiling tension.
    This is thrilling.

What a great wine, as intellectual as it is delicious.

Joly has recommended a lot of air for his wines.did you save any?

Unless quaffing with friends, always.

That said, this bottle seemed like it was peaking immediately off the pop. We’ll see how it develops over the next couple days.

Corey, when you coming to Milwaukee to share some vino?

Fell in love with this wine with 2 bottles from the 06 vintage.
PA state system has the 2010 vintage on sale for $49.99. Haven’t tried it yet.

I’m not sure how similar they are, but the 2010 Les Clos Sacres was like spoiled apple juice 3 years ago. I’ve had several vintages of various Joly bottlings and the 2010 LCS was absolutely awful. I read some notes somewhere that said 2010 was problematic for Joly but I don’t know in what aspect.

Hopefully soon. Perhaps I’ll grab the Missus and we’ll pop up for part of Saturday and spend Sunday at the MAM. I have a couple bottles of the 2007 which I couldn’t locate the last time I looked, but quite certain that they’re in my locker, just hiding.

Sounds like a winner, and thrilled that it was thrilling at such a young age, Alex. Thanks for the fine note.

Maluhia,

Mike

Fyi, I finished this last night and it showed a little bit more oxidation, the almond/hazelnut notes on the nose more pronounced. Either way, I found it to be just as delicious.

Check this out:

Wow Corey, thx for the link! That’s crazy about the oxidation…in a way, I’m glad that I killed it last night, was absolutely perfect for my palate.

I’ve tried the 2010 Coulee de Serrant, and it was phenomenal. At that price, definitely give it a try and buy a lot. I’m not that experienced with Joly’s wines (that was the only Coulee de Serrant that I’ve tried, so I don’t know how it compares to other vintages), but it was markedly better than a bottle of the 2012 Les Clos Sacres and 2012 Clos de la Bergerie that I’ve tried since.

The wines have been improving since winemaking duties passed to his daughter.

  • 2012 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières-Coulée de Serrant (11/15/2020)
    Decanted and tasted after 2 hours. Deep golden; medium intensity aromatics, most pronounced aroma is honey, quince; palate is full bodied, richly textured with a regalness to the mouthfeel, medium-plus acidity, dry, 14% alcohol but doesn’t come across as too high, slightly oxidative throughout but not overly so; medium length finish. I’ll reassess this over the next day, but right now the most impressive aspect is the mouthfeel, though it’s a bit lacking in complexity for Chenin at this price point. I’ll give my remaining bottles a good amount more age. 90
    8 hours decanted: the palate shows a bit more fruit with some orange blossom and orange rind. Perhaps a touch better, but overall assessment the same. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Overall disappointing compared to expectations. I’ve had a wonderful 2010, and a bottle of mediocre 2010, and now this so-so 2012. I know they are somewhat idiosyncratic, but I feel like I’m missing the boat on how to optimize my experiences here. Did I catch this in a closed phase? Does it need more air? For those of you who drink Joly a lot, what are your “rules” when opening bottles? I’m still chasing my first experience with the 2010 Coulee de Serrant, but I’m less confident I’ll find that again. I do have more bottles of 2010 and 2012, so any specific advice on these 2 vintages are very appreciated.

Any idea when Goode posted those notes? I don’t see a date. I have a couple of bottles of the 02. I’m guessing they will be either wonderful or biochemistry experiments.

Cross your fingers and only drink them on leaf days and fruit days on the Lunar calndar.

Good luck!

John, I’m fairly certain that these notes were what inspired me to grab a couple bottles of the 2007 ten or so years ago. Jamie wrote this post about a vertical tasting in November 2002. My hunch is that he was thinking of doing an extended tasting and did so with the 2002 shortly after release. Pure speculation on my part