Notify me
Champalou’s Flagship Vouvray
Champalou’s Flagship Vouvray
by Anthony Lynch by Anthony Lynch
2020 Vouvray
2020 Vouvray


Didier, Céline, and Catherine Champalou
Champalou France | Loire | Vouvray
It’s hard to believe that nearly thirty-five years have passed since we first began importing Didier and Catherine Champalou’s wines. Few producers in the wine world boast such a consistent record, where each release is an honest and reliable ambassador to an appellation, a grape, and an entire region.
The Champalous are masters of Loire Chenin Blanc, producing Vouvray in all styles; this still, dry rendition, aged in stainless steel, represents their flagship cuvée. Gentle and refreshing on the palate, it boasts a delightful balance of stony minerality with luscious, almost honeyed fruit and flowery notes, making for a great apéritif or easy pairing with all sorts of dishes.
Didier and Catherine love to cook, and they will often produce an aged bottle or two to serve with a creation from the home kitchen. Best of all, their daughter Céline has joined the domaine, so we can hope for another thirty-five years—at least!—of delicious, terroir-driven Vouvray crafted with heart and soul.


Didier, Céline, and Catherine Champalou
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Chenin Blanc |
Appellation: | Vouvray |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Champalou |
Vineyard: | 35 years average, 13.5 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone |
Farming: | Sustainable |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
More from this Producer or Region

Vouvray Brut
France | Loire
From clay and limestone vineyards, they are able to obtain remarkable complexity in their Brut, while the texture shows both a creamy richness and an austere minerality.

2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
France | Loire
The family’s grandest wine, a brooding elixir of satiny fruit, cedar, and graphite.

2015 Vouvray “La Moelleuse”
France | Loire
Gently sweet yet retaining the mouthwatering acidity that Chenin from the great sites of the Loire can provide.

2022 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
France | Loire
Sourced from the village of Beaumont, located within the Chinon AOC, it is utterly delicious, with a perfect balance of fruit and earth.

2023 Vouvray
France | Loire
Gentle and refreshing on the palate, it boasts a delightful balance of stony minerality with luscious, almost honeyed fruit and flowery notes.

2022 Quincy “Château de Quincy”
France | Loire
Textured, lush, full of aromatic gooseberry and passionfruit—all supported by spiny minerality.

2023 Reuilly “Les Pierres Plates”
France | Loire
Consistently one of the Loire’s finest Sauvignon Blancs

2021 Vin de France Blanche
France | Loire
This skin-contact wine is redolent of blood orange and hyssop—a perfect apéritif for olives and anchovies.

2023 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
France | Loire
The contrast of ripe, succulent Chenin Blanc fruit with a spike of flinty minerality is like licking honey off an arrowhead.

2022 Sancerre “Les Cris”
France | Loire
Simply gorgeous, the Cris is sublimely perfumed, generous on the palate, and long and saline on the elegant finish.
About The Producer
Champalou
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
2021 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2023 Jasnières
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2023 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Sancerre “Hameau de Reigny”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2023 Coteaux du Loir Blanc
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2015 Vouvray “La Moelleuse”
Champalou France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Vouvray
Champalou France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2021 Chinon Blanc “Les Charmes”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2023 Jasnières
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2023 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Sancerre “Hameau de Reigny”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2023 Coteaux du Loir Blanc
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2015 Vouvray “La Moelleuse”
Champalou France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Vouvray
Champalou France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2021 Chinon Blanc “Les Charmes”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
Where the newsletter started

Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch