Les Vieux Clos provides an inviting taste into the Famille Joly style. The 5.5 hectares vineyard is planted on light slopes facing east in the mountainous AOC Savennières appellation. The soil is different here, with more sand in the first 2 feet. Yields are kept at 25 hectoliters per hectare (well below the 50 hl/ha requirement of the appellation). Unique to this wine in the portfolio, fermentation can be completed partly in tank. The resulting wine provides expressive exotic notes of ginger and coriander balanced with candied pear and an accent of salinity. Les Vieux Clos is often considered the most aromatic of the three wines.

Considered a vintage of extremes. It was a very early year with an almost unavoidable frost situation. A loss of 30%-40% depending on the parcels. Flowering continued over three weeks leading one to expect a pretty long harvest. A dry season, very very dry, only needing one treatment of 150 grams of copper. Temperatures went up to 42°C over several days. Less than 30mm rain in three months, the maturity of the berries were blocked during August, with a very small sized berry. In spite of this situation, the vines managed to reach maturity, helped by a small rain in the beginning of September. Harvest started September 23 and the maturity of the grapes was very even. For the first time in 40 years some parcels were harvested in one pass! In the cellar, we had a very long and smooth fermentation. An interesting vintage, less botrytis (3%-5%), golden grapes, while frost and dryness have done their damage to yields.

No settling, no temperature control during fermentation, 100% indigenous yeasts, no fining