A singular expression of Chenin Blanc from biodynamic pioneer Nicolas Joly, Les Vieux Clos is rich, layered, and uncompromising, a wine that straddles nature and philosophy as much as terroir.
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Orders placed before 1pm each day Monday – Friday will be despatched the same day as long as the stock is in immediate availability. For some items, we may need to get stock from our stores which could delay despatch by 1 day (2 days in some situations)
Items in stock will be despatched on the same day and delivered via courier. This will usually be delivered on the following working day but please allow one extra day if this is not possible. Deliveries to Scotland & non UK mainland will usually be delivered in 2-3 working days.
We charge a flat fee of £6.90 for delivery if your order is under 20kg and £10 inc-VAT if the order is over 20kg. Free delivery is available for orders above £100 (inc VAT).
We aim to ship items within the same working day but always within 2 working days, subject to the order being placed before 1pm and subject to the availability of stock. *If stock is not available at our warehouse and needs to come back from one of our stores before we ship to you, your order may take up to 5 working days to be shipped – whether that is to your delivery address or to one of our stores.
We want all our cusomers to be 100% happy with their order and it is our aim to ensure that all orders are supplied to our customers arrive in perfect condition. You have the right to cancel your order at any time without being charged for the goods ordered within 14 days of purchase.
Excludes perishable or personalised products or those products that have been specified as non-returnable.
If you need to cancel an order you have just placed, you can do so by calling our customer service team on 020 8951 9840 and provide your order confirmation number and name. If you call us after your item has shipped, we will be unable to cancel it and you will need to return to us. Please email us at online@amathusdrinks.com with your order confirmation number, full name and the reason you for the return. Shipping charges are non-refundable. We advise you to obtain a postal receipt or send the items back via recorded delivery.
Nicolas Joly is one of France’s most provocative and influential winegrowers. Long before biodynamics became fashionable, Joly had fully embraced its principles at his Coulée de Serrant estate in Savennières, beginning in the 1980s, with the belief that viticulture should attune to the rhythms of the earth and vines rather than fight them. Today, his approach remains unflinching: he farms entirely by biodynamic principles (certified by Demeter) and eschews chemical inputs, machines, and manipulations in both vineyard and cellar. Les Vieux Clos, while sometimes considered the entry to his range, is no less complex or expressive. Sourced from a 5.5-hectare parcel on schist and volcanic soils, it’s fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in old barrels with minimal sulphur and no filtration. Each vintage reflects not a standard style but the evolving energy of the growing season, a living wine made by intuition as much as technique. Joly’s wines are not “clean” in the modern sense — they are alive, sometimes wild, always fascinating. They divide opinion, and that’s precisely the point.
Les Vieux Clos opens with a deep, golden hue and an aromatic profile that’s anything but shy: bruised orchard fruit, honeycomb, hay, beeswax, saffron and wet stone. The palate is broad and textural, sometimes oxidative, often waxy, with quince, yellow apple, lemon oil, and a saline edge that echoes its schistous terroir. There’s no attempt at polish or varietal clarity; this is Chenin Blanc on its own terms, unapologetically raw and complex.
Pair with foods that mirror its richness and sense of place, such as roasted guinea fowl with preserved lemon, lobster with beurre noisette, or mature Comté. It’s also a surprising but thrilling match with Japanese kaiseki, or aged washed-rind cheeses. Best served slightly below room temperature to allow its full spectrum to unfurl. Will age, evolve, and provoke for 15–20 years or more.
