Nicolas Joly

Château de la Roches-aux-Moines Savennières, Loire Valley, France Nicolas Joly is the enigmatic, passionate pioneer of the Biodynamic wine movement. His family has owned the majestic estate, Château de la Roches-aux-Moines since 1962, when Nicolas’s parents, André and Denise purchased the property. The origins date back to a 12th century Cistercian monastery, the remanants of which are still visible. The estate and surrounding vineyards have been devoted to the vine all the years since. In the 19th century Coulée de Serrant was combined with several plots of cru level parcels from Roche aux Moines and other Savennières vineyards and the entire estate had not been maintained properly when the Joly’s purchased the lot. Nicolas did not set out to be the leading voice of the Biodynamic movement. He, like many other bourgeois young men went to America to study, attended Columbia University, gained an MBA and subsequently accepted a job at J.P Morgan in New York. In 1976, he left banking and returned to his family’s estate to help his mother. He returned to school, this time to learn oenology in Bordeaux. From the start, he was skeptical of modern agricultural practices, the cost of purchasing over and over various chemicals -pesticides and herbicides to maintain a predictable crop, and the effects such chemicals would have on the environment. He discovered the work of Rudolf Steiner, an Austiran who developed a natural, holistic manner of farming. Nicolas applied these ideals to his vineyards, learning to work with nature, encouraging an ecologically diverse environment in his vines. Couléee de Serrant has been one of the most storied vineyard sites in all of France and now continues to be under the helm of Biodynamic’s most ardent promoter. The Chenin Blanc grown on these rocky, schisty soils are in good hands with Nicolas and his daughter Virginie.