Waxy mouthfeel. Really interesting wine. Botrytis nose, almost Sauternes like. Hay, honey, apple and a black tea peach like aroma. Really interesting wine, developing every hour
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Retail $140. 100% Chenin Blanc. Under cork. It was a day. A pebble hit my windshield on the way to the airport and after a couple of days in long-term parking, it had developed into a major crack. Leaving the parking lot, the automated kiosk claimed I owed $138 for the four days I was there (it should have been $30). I got home and smashed a ramekin of guacamole all over my kitchen. And. I found out that my nemesis was leaving on a trip to France to write about wine (I was returning from Cleveland, where I was, well, in Cleveland). Then, on the way home, the sound system in my car suddenly was not working. At. All. So I decided to delve deep into the cellar, to pull out a wine that I had been saving, one that could reverse the intense negative mojo that had beset me. So I opted for this 2001 Joly Coulée de Serrant that I had purchased more than a dozen years ago from the PLCB for a fraction of its SRP ($35). How did that go? Well.... Amber, even a dark amber in the glass with plenty of lanolin, stewed citrus (if that is a thing), some petrol, and an overwhelming tartness. The palate? No real fruit to speak of, but plenty of intense nuttiness, intense acidity, and a finish that lasts for longer than parents' weekend seemed. No, this is not what I think it should be, but an interesting and thought -provoking quaff, nonetheless.Um. Dark. Did I mention that? No real fruit, plenty of tartness and oxidized notes. Sure, it is interesting and a 2001 white pretty much automatically gets a "Very Good" but this is more than that, is ever so slightly.
Had this to compare w 1997 Joly CdS. Brought by Clare. Can't remember how long she decanted for. Fresher aromas than the 97 CdS with ripe apples. herbs, and a mild botrytis spice. Palate was also fresher than 97 with ripe but not overripe apples, herbs, and spices and a bit of medicinal bitterness. Full bodied with a waxy mouthfeel. Liked this a bit better than the 97.
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Super funky on opening. A vigorous decant and 3 hours of standing helped considerably.
Deep ochre. The nose presents baked apple, campfire, and sandalwood. The palate gives an initial impression of creamy sweetness, followed by crisp acidity and narrowing to a bone-dry, nearly bitter finish. I'm not sure how to describe the way this tastes in terms of anything other than itself. But I really, really like it.
As promised, it's better on day 3 than day 1. We'll see how long we can resist finishing it.
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From a perfectly stored bottle. Deep amber/golden colour. Rich, honeyed and botrytised nose. Deep tertiary mouth with great body. Not much left of the 'apple juice' flavour it sometimes displays in its youth.
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Pristine bottle, ullage < 1.5cm below the perfect cork, 13.5% ABV. Decanted on 19 August 2017 at 1pm. Medium golden colour; immediately after decanting the nose, with its notes of lanolin, chamomile and spiced honey, is at the same time dry and mineral, and rich and deep; this dichotomy is replicated on the firmly structured palate, which is fresh and bone-dry, but has an unctuous texture; quite tannic on the light but long finish, with a hint of liquorice. The complete absence of fruit flavours is remarkable. Let's see how this develops over the next few days. After six hours in the decanter it has softened and become a bit more harmonious, and it reminds me of an old-fashioned Tokaji Szamorodni. After 26 hours in the decanter, the gradual softening continues, but without much added complexity and I feel that it is starting to lose grip, especially on the finish. It looks like Jancis' 2007 tasting note was spot on and that my amazing experience of this wine at Gidleigh Park in 2008 was a fluke. Another 26 hours later, the wine remains perfectly intact, but shows little or no additional development let alone improvement. As the ancient Greeks already knew: if it's not in there, it won't come out.
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This was my third bottle of this, but the first in some time, and I have to say, this is just downright strange, and I feel like I am in some sort of perverse Goldilocks scenario. The first bottle I decanted for most of the day and it was, well, not good. The second bottle I popped and poured and it was interesting and good. This bottle? I popped and poured and it had an odd lanolin aroma, considerable color, and not any fruit. At all. I was drinking with another wine geek buddy and we kind of laughed it off as Joly being Joly. I put half of the bottle in the fridge and tried again on day two. MUCH darker, a deep amber. The lanolin was gone and replaced with a more characteristic sherry note. On the palate a different story as well with some dried apricot and a powerful oxidized note. I preferred day two by a lot, but I am still utterly perplexed by this wine. thedrunkencyclist.com
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Oro ambrato. Elegantissimo il naso di albicocca, erbe officinali, pepe bianco, zafferano, artemisia, finocchietto, sottobosco. Bocca rispondente, brevi cenni di botritis, splendida freschezza
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Amber color. Nose of quince and nuts, with slight botrytis. The acidity balanced it out nicely. It paired very well with sauteed scalops,and just OK with sea food pilaf. Somehow I prefered the 07 though which more lively and complex.
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Amber to bronze with watery rim. A baffling nose with notes of apple pure, nuts, leather, polypore and a touch of botrytis. Dry and fullbodied palate with grainy acidity. Altogether feels a bit too heavy and unaccentuated. Green tea, chalk and nuts. Very long finish. My least favourite (bottle of) Coulée de Serrant so far, though 2001 seems far more intriguing than some more straightforward vintages.
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No chill, straight from the cellar. Popped and poured, no decant. This was a LOT better than the last which I decanted for most of the day. I did pass through a Vinturi on the third glass and it improved even more. I would guess a 30-90 minute decant would be about right. Still a unique wine. Likely not for everybody, but certainly interesting. This wine can likely cellar for quite some time. Next time more of a formal note.
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Deep golden. One of the most erratic wines out there: can be heaven or hell. This one was certainly not heaven. Wine for wine-perverts only. Nose that smells of seaweed, mussels and iodine.... In the mouth unforgiving, iodine, sour apple juice and who cares what else. The wine has no fault - a slight oxidation is always part of the style, but have the 2007 now and you will be blown away, this however was perversion incarnated. You wont get these flavours anywhere else, but do you enjoy them? 85 points due to individuality...
So I woke up today (Thanksgiving) and rushed down to the cellar to open the Clos de la Coulée. Before decanting, I poured myself a little bit (maybe the first time I have had wine before 9:00 a.m.). Golden color, which seemed to indicate oxidation. The nose, however, did not have any oxidation to it whatsoever. Instead, honey, a bit of lemon and something else I still can't place. I gave it a solid few sniffs, but still could not come up with it. On the palate, very interesting. Unctuous, with a brief hint of the honey from the nose and that flavor I could not place. Very, very long finish.
I decanted the rest of the bottle, but put a top on the decanter since it seems to be rather ready to drink. A few hours later, I tried another sip. It had developed a nose of petrol/ammonium that was a little troubling, but seemed to blow off. I let it be for the next few hours until the guests arrived. By that time, very dark, like diluted Coke. The nose and palate had not developed much further at all after 6+ hours of decanting. I hazard to state that it was at its best right after opening. The guests, who are somewhat into wine, did not say much about it. It seemed clear they were not fans.
I have no idea how to score it. Certainly unique in my wine experience. Looking forward to the other 5 bottles of such an iconic wine.
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4 notes in CT and no scores. I can understand it. Certainly if the condition of the wine was as it is in this bottle. Oxidised bouquet. Darjeeling tea in the mouth. Strange color. My score was not that of a faulty wine, so I entered it.
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A private lunch (Restaurant Gidleigh Park **, Chagford, UK): Very deep, golden colour - in the decanter it looked like apple juice; layered nose with white stone fruits, honey, minerals, suffused with chamomile, camphor and fresh linen; rich, dry and perfectly balanced; excellent length. A great Coulee de Serrant. Drink now - 2025.
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Opened up and decant a day before drinking as M. Joly instructs. Foul smelling. Really foul. Like dead things in the furnace vents.
Brought it up from the cellar to drink the next day and it was better. Still had a old wool/lanolin thing to it and rotting vegetation. Metallic and brine notes, a nice bit of acid in the middle. Drinkable, I guess. It wasn't complex though, just had the same rather dull elements the whole time and just because they are not normally in wines doesn't make them good.
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Tasted a day after opening. Elegant with tropical fruit notes and a clean, exotic profile. Nice mineral and acid backbone - built to last. Very good, in total contrast to my last bottle.
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Uncharacteristic old apple juice color and clearly oxidized nail-polish notes. These wines can behave quite oddly so, as recommended, I decanted and checked periodically over a couple of days....nope, got much worse and went down the drain.
Binnys $29.99/bottle sale price doesn't look so good anymore.
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No theme; some random wines. (@ JB): Deep golden yellow and gives tears in the glass. Complex bouquet with fennel and hay. On the palate a very special wine as well. Some oxidized impressions. This is most likely the Joly style. Not unpleasant, but special. No score from me.
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12/29/2023 - Vinobystino wrote: 92 Points
Waxy mouthfeel. Really interesting wine. Botrytis nose, almost Sauternes like. Hay, honey, apple and a black tea peach like aroma. Really interesting wine, developing every hour
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5/7/2023 - levicn Likes this wine: 94 Points
醒酒不到一个小时，深金黄色，闻香是奶油，草药，榛子，无花果和琥珀的味道，明显的陈年特征，但是过度氧化的感觉并不明显，可能是因为香气非常复杂，元素多的原因，入口酸度高，酒液咸，草药明显，还能感受到一些红葡萄酒才会有的人参气息，白花混合着柚子，焦糖的香气，后段回苦，余味是橘皮和奶油香气。酒的骨架不小，本来有些偏重的酒体随着时间的推移已经变得柔和，坚挺的酸度，清晰的结构感，精细的橡木桶使用，不能说是愉悦，但风格太鲜明，很难找到几款同样复杂度的酒，而且同时保持这么好的结构和法式的优雅，一支适饮巅峰期的老年份酒，深邃而又复杂，众多元素交织，处在一个恰如其分的平衡态，你可以不喜欢这种风格，但是你绝不应该错过它。
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10/24/2021 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine: 88 Points
Retail $140. 100% Chenin Blanc. Under cork. It was a day. A pebble hit my windshield on the way to the airport and after a couple of days in long-term parking, it had developed into a major crack. Leaving the parking lot, the automated kiosk claimed I owed $138 for the four days I was there (it should have been $30). I got home and smashed a ramekin of guacamole all over my kitchen. And. I found out that my nemesis was leaving on a trip to France to write about wine (I was returning from Cleveland, where I was, well, in Cleveland). Then, on the way home, the sound system in my car suddenly was not working. At. All. So I decided to delve deep into the cellar, to pull out a wine that I had been saving, one that could reverse the intense negative mojo that had beset me. So I opted for this 2001 Joly Coulée de Serrant that I had purchased more than a dozen years ago from the PLCB for a fraction of its SRP ($35). How did that go? Well.... Amber, even a dark amber in the glass with plenty of lanolin, stewed citrus (if that is a thing), some petrol, and an overwhelming tartness. The palate? No real fruit to speak of, but plenty of intense nuttiness, intense acidity, and a finish that lasts for longer than parents' weekend seemed. No, this is not what I think it should be, but an interesting and thought -provoking quaff, nonetheless.Um. Dark. Did I mention that? No real fruit, plenty of tartness and oxidized notes. Sure, it is interesting and a 2001 white pretty much automatically gets a "Very Good" but this is more than that, is ever so slightly.
www.thedrunkencyclist.com
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6/19/2021 - James Kim wrote: 91 Points
Had this to compare w 1997 Joly CdS. Brought by Clare. Can't remember how long she decanted for. Fresher aromas than the 97 CdS with ripe apples. herbs, and a mild botrytis spice. Palate was also fresher than 97 with ripe but not overripe apples, herbs, and spices and a bit of medicinal bitterness. Full bodied with a waxy mouthfeel. Liked this a bit better than the 97.
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5/17/2019 - BouzyRouge Likes this wine:
Super funky on opening. A vigorous decant and 3 hours of standing helped considerably.
Deep ochre. The nose presents baked apple, campfire, and sandalwood. The palate gives an initial impression of creamy sweetness, followed by crisp acidity and narrowing to a bone-dry, nearly bitter finish. I'm not sure how to describe the way this tastes in terms of anything other than itself. But I really, really like it.
As promised, it's better on day 3 than day 1. We'll see how long we can resist finishing it.
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9/24/2017 - SineQuaNon Likes this wine:
From a perfectly stored bottle. Deep amber/golden colour. Rich, honeyed and botrytised nose. Deep tertiary mouth with great body. Not much left of the 'apple juice' flavour it sometimes displays in its youth.
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8/19/2017 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 90 Points
Pristine bottle, ullage < 1.5cm below the perfect cork, 13.5% ABV. Decanted on 19 August 2017 at 1pm. Medium golden colour; immediately after decanting the nose, with its notes of lanolin, chamomile and spiced honey, is at the same time dry and mineral, and rich and deep; this dichotomy is replicated on the firmly structured palate, which is fresh and bone-dry, but has an unctuous texture; quite tannic on the light but long finish, with a hint of liquorice. The complete absence of fruit flavours is remarkable. Let's see how this develops over the next few days. After six hours in the decanter it has softened and become a bit more harmonious, and it reminds me of an old-fashioned Tokaji Szamorodni. After 26 hours in the decanter, the gradual softening continues, but without much added complexity and I feel that it is starting to lose grip, especially on the finish. It looks like Jancis' 2007 tasting note was spot on and that my amazing experience of this wine at Gidleigh Park in 2008 was a fluke. Another 26 hours later, the wine remains perfectly intact, but shows little or no additional development let alone improvement. As the ancient Greeks already knew: if it's not in there, it won't come out.
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11/22/2015 - The Drunken Cyclist wrote:
This was my third bottle of this, but the first in some time, and I have to say, this is just downright strange, and I feel like I am in some sort of perverse Goldilocks scenario. The first bottle I decanted for most of the day and it was, well, not good. The second bottle I popped and poured and it was interesting and good. This bottle? I popped and poured and it had an odd lanolin aroma, considerable color, and not any fruit. At all. I was drinking with another wine geek buddy and we kind of laughed it off as Joly being Joly. I put half of the bottle in the fridge and tried again on day two. MUCH darker, a deep amber. The lanolin was gone and replaced with a more characteristic sherry note. On the palate a different story as well with some dried apricot and a powerful oxidized note. I preferred day two by a lot, but I am still utterly perplexed by this wine. thedrunkencyclist.com
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11/4/2013 - Ludi Likes this wine: 93 Points
Oro ambrato. Elegantissimo il naso di albicocca, erbe officinali, pepe bianco, zafferano, artemisia, finocchietto, sottobosco. Bocca rispondente, brevi cenni di botritis, splendida freschezza
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7/6/2012 - Pierre-Yves wrote: 91 Points
Amber color. Nose of quince and nuts, with slight botrytis. The acidity balanced it out nicely.
It paired very well with sauteed scalops,and just OK with sea food pilaf.
Somehow I prefered the 07 though which more lively and complex.
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7/5/2011 - avp wrote:
Amber to bronze with watery rim.
A baffling nose with notes of apple pure, nuts, leather, polypore and a touch of botrytis.
Dry and fullbodied palate with grainy acidity. Altogether feels a bit too heavy and unaccentuated. Green tea, chalk and nuts. Very long finish.
My least favourite (bottle of) Coulée de Serrant so far, though 2001 seems far more intriguing than some more straightforward vintages.
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4/5/2011 - The Drunken Cyclist wrote: 90 Points
No chill, straight from the cellar. Popped and poured, no decant. This was a LOT better than the last which I decanted for most of the day. I did pass through a Vinturi on the third glass and it improved even more. I would guess a 30-90 minute decant would be about right. Still a unique wine. Likely not for everybody, but certainly interesting. This wine can likely cellar for quite some time. Next time more of a formal note.
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9/18/2010 - Mistress of Wine wrote: flawed
fully oxidized
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6/10/2010 - Stefanos T. wrote: 85 Points
Deep golden. One of the most erratic wines out there: can be heaven or hell. This one was certainly not heaven. Wine for wine-perverts only. Nose that smells of seaweed, mussels and iodine.... In the mouth unforgiving, iodine, sour apple juice and who cares what else. The wine has no fault - a slight oxidation is always part of the style, but have the 2007 now and you will be blown away, this however was perversion incarnated. You wont get these flavours anywhere else, but do you enjoy them? 85 points due to individuality...
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11/26/2009 - The Drunken Cyclist wrote:
So I woke up today (Thanksgiving) and rushed down to the cellar to open the Clos de la Coulée. Before decanting, I poured myself a little bit (maybe the first time I have had wine before 9:00 a.m.). Golden color, which seemed to indicate oxidation. The nose, however, did not have any oxidation to it whatsoever. Instead, honey, a bit of lemon and something else I still can't place. I gave it a solid few sniffs, but still could not come up with it. On the palate, very interesting. Unctuous, with a brief hint of the honey from the nose and that flavor I could not place. Very, very long finish.
I decanted the rest of the bottle, but put a top on the decanter since it seems to be rather ready to drink. A few hours later, I tried another sip. It had developed a nose of petrol/ammonium that was a little troubling, but seemed to blow off. I let it be for the next few hours until the guests arrived. By that time, very dark, like diluted Coke. The nose and palate had not developed much further at all after 6+ hours of decanting. I hazard to state that it was at its best right after opening. The guests, who are somewhat into wine, did not say much about it. It seemed clear they were not fans.
I have no idea how to score it. Certainly unique in my wine experience. Looking forward to the other 5 bottles of such an iconic wine.
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6/3/2009 - Zweder wrote: 80 Points
4 notes in CT and no scores. I can understand it. Certainly if the condition of the wine was as it is in this bottle. Oxidised bouquet. Darjeeling tea in the mouth. Strange color. My score was not that of a faulty wine, so I entered it.
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5/9/2008 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 94 Points
A private lunch (Restaurant Gidleigh Park **, Chagford, UK): Very deep, golden colour - in the decanter it looked like apple juice; layered nose with white stone fruits, honey, minerals, suffused with chamomile, camphor and fresh linen; rich, dry and perfectly balanced; excellent length. A great Coulee de Serrant. Drink now - 2025.
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1/30/2008 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Opened up and decant a day before drinking as M. Joly instructs. Foul smelling. Really foul. Like dead things in the furnace vents.
Brought it up from the cellar to drink the next day and it was better. Still had a old wool/lanolin thing to it and rotting vegetation. Metallic and brine notes, a nice bit of acid in the middle. Drinkable, I guess. It wasn't complex though, just had the same rather dull elements the whole time and just because they are not normally in wines doesn't make them good.
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10/23/2007 - psmith wrote:
Tasted a day after opening. Elegant with tropical fruit notes and a clean, exotic profile. Nice mineral and acid backbone - built to last. Very good, in total contrast to my last bottle.
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8/5/2007 - jjclips2 wrote: flawed
The only "Baked Goods" I don't like :(
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9/22/2006 - psmith wrote:
Uncharacteristic old apple juice color and clearly oxidized nail-polish notes. These wines can behave quite oddly so, as recommended, I decanted and checked periodically over a couple of days....nope, got much worse and went down the drain.
Binnys $29.99/bottle sale price doesn't look so good anymore.
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8/27/2004 - Zweder wrote:
No theme; some random wines. (@ JB): Deep golden yellow and gives tears in the glass. Complex bouquet with fennel and hay. On the palate a very special wine as well. Some oxidized impressions. This is most likely the Joly style. Not unpleasant, but special. No score from me.
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