2022 · Les Vieux Clos

Nicolas Joly is the family owner of La Coulée de Serrant in Savennières, Loire Valley, a historic monopole long associated with Chenin Blanc. A pioneering advocate of biodynamics, he converted the vineyards in the early 1980s and farms without synthetic chemicals, relying on manual work, horse ploughing, and strict Rudolf Steiner principles. The estate produces three wines in small quantities, with multiple manual harvest passes and a low-intervention approach in both vineyard and cellar: indigenous yeasts, natural fermentations, little new oak, minimal sulfur, and no fining. Joly is also known for founding La Renaissance des Appellations and for his writings on terroir and biodynamic viticulture.