2018 Coulee de Serrant
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Tasting notes
Picked in five passages and with higher yields than normal (24 hectoliters per hectare) and about 8% of botrytis, the intensely yellow colored 2018 Clos de la Coulée de Serrant opens with a clear, refined and finely flinty-scented bouquet with ripe and aromatic fruit aromas with coolish-elegant herbal and shale notes and remarkable freshness—not only for the partly terribly hot 2018 vintage but for this epic wine in general. Generous and wide on the elegant and seamless palate, with lush yet concentrated fruit and a velvety texture due to fine yet firm tannins, this is an excellent and persistent Coulée de Serrant that is already accessible and ends with a long and salty as well as grippy finish with stimulating bitters and fresh phenols. The 2018 is incredibly finessed and finely salty. 15% alcohol. Tasted in May 2021.
Critic scores
Average Score
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Instant Chenin, thanks to the waxiness and honey on the nose, as well as orchard fruit and that distinctive mushroomy character. There's no hiding the alcohol on the palate, which has a Fino-style prominence. Layered, spicy and textural with a mineral or metallic sort of complexity on the finish. Thick, viscous and powerful – hedonistic. It's a great showcase of Chenin at its ripest, and there is a definite sense of terroir, but I would probably like it even more if the alcohol were a bit lower. (RH)
From Joly’s monopole appellation, and aged 6 to 8 months in neutral 550-liter barrels. Aromas of flint, struck stone, honey, peach and white pepper. In the mouth, it’s salty, stony, peppery, citrus and golden pear, and underlying notes of exotic spice. Lively and powerful, with such a long finish. (JW)