Nicolas Joly: Decanter Hall of Fame 2025

The recipient of this year’s Decanter Hall of Fame Award is a man who steadfastly beat his own drum until the rest of the world fell in with his rhythm – or at the very least stopped to listen. Possibly the world’s most outspoken defender of terroir, authenticity and ‘true’ wine, Nicolas Joly – dubbed the ‘godfather of biodynamics’ – is known for his rousing rhetoric and strongly held views. [subscriber-content] Biodynamic trailblazer Since 1977, when he took over the Loire valley’s most iconic domaine, La Coulée de Serrant, he has pioneered biodynamics in his vineyards, demonstrating the potential of these methods and bringing others around to his way of thinking. Leading by example, he has encouraged winemakers the world over to focus on the health and sustainability of their vineyards and to produce wines with a genuine sense of place. At 80 years of age, Joly’s passion for his subject remains undimmed. Within minutes of my arrival at his home, he’s leaning in to explain: ‘You see, you have two sorts of wine: those that are impeccable, achieved by aesthetic surgery, but have no charm, and those that are achieved by biodynamics – which is what the place wants, playing the song that the place wants to play.’ These are themes – working with nature and adopting a hands-off approach in the cellar – to which he returns frequently, along with multiple references to the more esoteric ideas of the founder of biodynamics, Rudolf Steiner. Ahead of his time [caption id="attachment_565755" align="alignnone" width="600"] The view from the top of La Coulée de Serrant[/caption] These days, organics , biodynamics, natural farming and sustainability are words on everyone’s lips, but it wasn’t always so. Joly was a man well ahead of his time. When he started his wine-growing journey, few people were talking about organic viticulture and biodynamics was virtually unheard of. In 1970s France, agrochemicals were much more à la mode than planet-friendly solutions, as grape growers sought an easier life than their parents. Joly recalls that when he was at school, the children of farmers were threatened with having to work in the vineyards if their grades were poor. ‘Working in the vines was a dreadful thing; and 50-60 years ago, the vine was not bringing in much money,’ he says. Joly’s own upbringing was rather more comfortable. He was born and raised in Angers, where his father was a surgeon. He spent his youth learning how to hunt, shoot and fish with his father and brother. He recalls: ‘I landed in a family where there was a passion for nature, but a passion that is probably not viewed well in the world of today.’ Although he has long since ceased to have any interest in hunting, he says that nevertheless, this early experience gave him a deep understanding of nature. La Coulée de Serrant His parents moved from the city to nearby rural Savennières when they bought the Château de la Roche aux Moines in 1962. It seems the vines that came with the property were of little interest to the family, even though they included the historically lauded La Coulée de Serrant, a single-vineyard appellation that has been in continuous production since the 12th century. During the 1930s, French journalist and gastronome Curnonsky (Maurice Edmond Sailland) ranked it as one of the top five white wines in France (the others being Yquem, Montrachet, Château-Chalon and Château Grillet). Hugh Johnson wrote that this vineyard ‘epitomises the exceptional situation which makes outstanding wine’, while Alsace wine-grower and fellow biodynamic practitioner Olivier Humbrecht MW says: ‘The energy of the place is amazing.’ See articles on previous Decanter Hall of Fame Award recipients Returning home [caption id="attachment_565756" align="alignnone" width="600"] Joly with his son Vincent during this year’s harvest[/caption] The appeal of what would become a lifelong project wasn’t immediately apparent to the teenage Joly, however. While his mother oversaw the vineyard operations, he left for business school in Paris and the US, and fell into a career in finance. He worked in New York and London before deciding to return to Savennières. ‘For no reason, I just quit the company,’ he says, ‘and this is why I’m a great, great believer in fate.’ He went to Bordeaux to study oenology and then came home to focus on the family’s Chenin vines and running the business. Despite the exceptional site, at that time the domaine was running at a loss. ‘I didn’t care at all,’ says Joly. However, when he took over the vineyards, he describes his dismay at being persuaded to buy weedkillers for the first time, in the name of progress. ‘I realised immediately that I was destroying the place,’ he says. ‘The colour of the earth was changing. The ladybirds were no longer there. I was destroying the secret life of the place.’ He soon turned his back on chemicals in search of a more natural approach. Spiritual awakening Happening upon a second-hand copy of a book by Rudolf Steiner, he ‘almost immediately’ decided to move the estate to biodynamics. Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian philosopher and spiritualist who founded this system of organic agriculture, as well as the Waldorf school movement and the esoteric spiritual movement anthroposophy. A series of lectures he gave to a group of German farmers in 1924 forms the basis of biodynamic practice. ‘I knew nothing about biodynamics,’ says Joly. ‘[The decision to embrace biodynamics] was absurd, because it was a decision from nowhere, but my life has been made of decisions from nowhere.’ He trialled Steiner’s methods on a small scale for a year or two, quickly became convinced of their merits and took the plunge with the entire estate, which has been fully biodynamic since 1984. Joly describes the work of Steiner as ‘a huge gift for my life, which has been based on these foundations since I was around 30 years of age’. [breakout] Nicolas Joly at a glance Born: 23 August 1945, Angers, France Education: L’Institut Supérieur de Commerce, Paris (1968-1969); MBA, Columbia University, New York (1969-1970); oenology, University of Bordeaux (1977) Career: Investment advisor at Morgan Guaranty Trust in New York and London (1971-1977) before returning to La Coulée de Serrant Family: Two children, Virginie and Vincent; three grandchildren Interests: Anthroposophy, meditation, his grandchildren, gardening, spending time in the mountains

[/breakout] Leap of faith [caption id="attachment_565754" align="alignnone" width="600"] Joly with daughter Virginie[/caption] Initially, however, his ‘decision from nowhere’ was difficult for the family. ‘We were treated like a sect for seven years because we were in biodynamics,’ Joly says. ‘My parents received a phone call telling them to be careful because their son was destroying their vineyard. It was a very negative pressure. You see how powerful the farming industry is.’ Undeterred, Joly continued, and he soon started to attract the attention of several high-profile wine-growers who, after visiting his domaine, began to adopt similar practices in their own vineyards. A notable visitor in the early days was Lalou Bize-Leroy, who at the time was co-managing Domaine de la Romanée-Conti . ‘I don’t know why she came, but she immediately got what biodynamics was about and started to use it at Romanée-Conti,’ Joly says. ‘This was a huge, huge change because this was the best of the best [converting to biodynamics].’ Other early adopters included Noël Pinguet ( Domaine Huet ), Anne-Claude Leflaive (Domaine Leflaive), Michel Chapoutier (Maison M Chapoutier) and Marc Kreydenweiss (Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss). At the turn of the century, with two decades’ experience of biodynamics under his belt, Joly founded the Renaissance des Appellations (Return to Terroir). Early member Olivier Humbrecht MW recalls: ‘Nicolas had contacted a few wineries around France. He had famous names from the start. We began with around 20 members in 2001, but it became bigger very quickly because of his aura.’ Spreading the word The association now numbers more than 230 wineries worldwide. Joly’s daughter Virginie has taken over most of the day-to-day work of the association (and the domaine), but Nicolas remains as spokesperson and leader, regularly addressing audiences of trade professionals, winemakers and consumers with his unique brand of fiery rhetoric, championing wines that express their origins and equally vehemently opposing ‘technological’ wines, which he claims all taste the same. One might imagine that Joly has used this platform to promote his own domaine, but nothing could be further from the truth. He appears to have little interest in talking about his wines or, for that matter, himself. Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Ronan Sayburn MS says of Joly: ‘He’ll talk about anything but his own wines.’ Indeed, halfway through our interview, Virginie arrives carrying a tray of bottles and glasses. ‘He always forgets,’ she says. ‘Yes, I always forget to bring the bottles to taste,’ Joly agrees, before turning his back on the tray to continue to expand on the point he was making. ‘The purpose of Renaissance was to help small wine-growers who were just starting out. They needed money and I wanted them to stay in their place to express their deep link to the earth, rather than changing themselves into marketing agents.’ Everything has been done on small budgets, but the group organises regular tastings and has travelled the globe together, spreading awareness of their wines and biodynamics. Passionate belief [caption id="attachment_565757" align="alignnone" width="600"] Courtyard buildings of the former Cistercian monastery adjacent to the main parcel of Clos de la Coulée de Serrant, planted in 1130[/caption] While some of Joly’s thinking can be considered esoteric – he freely espouses the importance of elemental beings to plant growth, for example – he has the ability to hold the attention of a room with his passion for whatever he’s talking about. Beyond the loftier ideas, he offers practical examples of what’s possible. Humbrecht says: ‘Wine-growers are very pragmatic. If we change something, we want to see results – and this is independent of believing that there are elves in the vineyard. When you cook a steak, you don’t know exactly what is happening, but you can become better. And this is what Nicolas is great at: he allows people to write their own recipe.’ While Joly’s own beliefs appear immutable, he isn’t interested in imposing them on those who have no interest in hearing them. ‘I do respect the freedom of everyone, so I think people should do what they feel they have to do,’ he says. ‘My advice is that if someone has a deep interest in biodynamics, come here. I always take the time to explain things in depth, or to tell you my experience. I would feel that I’m not myself if I don’t do it. [breakout] What others say… The sommelier Ronan Sayburn MS, Co-Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards [caption id="attachment_537618" align="alignnone" width="605"] Ronan Sayburn MS, DWWA Co-Chair. Credit: Nic Crilly-Hargrave[/caption] 'He is an enigma, and his wines are, too. He’s fascinating to listen to, and because he is such an extreme personality, he drives things no one else would. He’s a very curious guy. He can walk into a vineyard and talk about the energy. As a sommelier, I always wanted to recommend Coulée de Serrant because when it’s great, it’s magnificent.’ The colleague Olivier Humbrecht MW, owner of Alsace biodynamic estate Domaine Zind-Humbrecht [caption id="attachment_565752" align="alignnone" width="600"] Olivier Humbrecht MW, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. Credit: Leif Carlsson[/caption] ‘I am totally in his philosophy: if you want to make a great wine, it has to have a sense of place, a taste of terroir. Nicolas was the first person who knew how to speak about biodynamics and make it fun and interesting. He has an inner energy that makes people want to drink better wines, and wines with character. And he brings the younger generation of wine-growers in. You can listen to him ten times and he will always have something new to say and it’s always absolutely fascinating.’ The new neighbour Ivan Massonnat, owner of neighbouring biodynamic estate Domaine Belargus [caption id="attachment_565753" align="alignnone" width="600"] Ivan Massonnat, Domaine Belargus[/caption] ‘I am a fan of his personality. He is open and sharing and has had a very positive impact on the region. He put Coulée de Serrant back on the map – and there has been nothing more significant for the subsequent rise of the Anjou region than this. We owe him.’ The biodynamics expert Monty Waldin, consultant, journalist and author of Biodynamic Wines [caption id="attachment_31244" align="alignnone" width="601"] Monty Waldin[/caption] ‘Nicolas always knew that the future was sustainability and has always remained firm in this view. Some think he’s a mad fanatic, but he’s not. He is also generous in sharing his thoughts with his colleagues. Today, the themes of climate change and respect for the planet are everywhere, but at the time [he started out], it was much more difficult explaining it to people.’ [/breakout] [/subscriber-content] Related articles Wu Xiuyong: Decanter Rising Star 2025 Susana Balbo: Decanter Hall of Fame 2024 Pascaline Lepeltier: Decanter Rising Star 2024

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