Historic Joly from a Single Cellar in Europe
1996 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant
The Lowest (the ONLY) Pricing in the Nation
Joly's Coulée de Serrant is reference-point dry Chenin Blanc. It's also one of the most mysterious, quixotic wines out there, from one of the most revered plots of land in the world of wine.
This is the sort of wine that forces one to seek out new descriptors, seeming to pull its characteristic earth tones and minerality from an almost enchanted sylvan environment: musk and must, toasted nuts and fruit skin rather than flesh, along with strings of sap and cool, wet rocks.
The Coulée de Serrant emerges slowly; this is one of those wines that develops with days in the decanter. You hear stories of bottles forgotten in the refrigerator for months, only to be found not only alive, but stunning.
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This is also reference-point dry Chenin Blanc, as singular a wine as has ever existed. Today we're happy to offer out a parcel of the legendary 1996 Nicolas Joly Coulée de Serrant at as low as $92 a bottle.
This offer represents the ONLY bottles of 96 Coulée de Serrant currently available in the U.S. and they come to us sharply priced and in immaculate condition from a single cellar in Europe. The bottles are still in original cardboard boxes.
Few sites can claim the nobility of the Coulée de Serrant. It’s a mere seven-hectare monopole on a steep slope in the Loire Valley’s Savennières, planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks, and it’s widely regarded as one of the greatest single vineyards in all of the wine world. Today, the vines average between 40-60 years old, and at 20-25 hectoliters per hectare, Joly's yields are some of the smallest in the Loire, if not in all of France.
The low yields may well be responsible for the fantastic depth as well as breadth that saturate the palate, in a way that’s reminiscent of a great Montrachet or Corton-Charlemagne. Likewise, the Coulée can show flesh, some opulence, yet still there’s an ultra-dense stony core - a “toughness” to the wine that needs time to open up.
Indeed, these wines are reputed to age for essentially forever… plus around five years. We have first-hand experience with this. We took a mini-vertical to a good friend's birthday - the 1962, 1973 and 1978 - each was profound in its own way. A recently opened bottle of 1990 was still tightly packed, youthful, brilliant - and barely emerging from its shell after three hours open.
The 1996 we've had 3+ times. It is a powerful, dense wine, saturating wine, still in its youth at 15 years of age. 1996 was a classic vintage in the Loire, giving this wine outstanding acid (key to longevity) as well as a succulent but not flamboyant ripeness. The late 90s marked a string of superb hits from Joly, and the 96 verily kicked them off.
This is a wine that’s likely to improve hour by hour, even day by day that it’s open. Patience is amply rewarded here, and ideally a 12-hour decant, for starters, is recommended. Monsieur Joly himself says that half-finished bottles will improve over at least three days.
Stashed away in the cellar, they should last well into the next decade - for this reason we've included special 3-pack pricing.
Quantities are limited so please give us your maximum order and we'll do our best to allocate. To place your order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits
Special Email Bottle Price: $98.78
No compare-at pricing available in the U.S.
Special Email 3-Pack Price: $276.00 ($92.00/btl)
NET | No further discount
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