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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
2022 Vouvray
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Gentle and refreshing on the palate, it boasts a delightful balance of stony minerality with luscious, almost honeyed fruit and flowery notes.
2022 Sancerre
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Reverdy’s trademark is a generous flavor of blossoming flowers channeled over the palate, culminating in a finely etched mineral finish.
2021 Val de Loire Blanc “Cirrus”
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This bottling takes a playful approach to the rare Fié Gris grape with a skin maceration that teases out depth to its unique aromatic qualities.
2021 Sancerre “Cuvée Marcel Henri”
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Welcome to depth, complexity, understatement, finesse.
2018 Vouvray “La Moelleuse”
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This is the Champalous’ late-harvest wine, gently sweet yet retaining the mouthwatering acidity that Chenin from the great sites of the Loire can provide.
2020 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
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This dry Chenin Blanc is etched from the white limestone beneath—crystalline, pure, and chiseled.
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 Vouvray “Le Portail”
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The most serious and age-worthy of Champalou’s dry wines, it has a depth and richness of flavor that allow it to shine alongside refined cuisine.
2022 Pouilly-Fumé “Vieilles Vignes”
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Sauvignon Blanc has many incarnations throughout the world, but even in the Loire Valley—the grape’s spiritual home—Pouilly Fumé represents a very distinctive example.
2022 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.
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
2018 Chinon Blanc “Clos de la Plante Martin”
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2022 Bourgueil Rosé “La Ritournelle”
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2023 Cheverny
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Cuvée Terroir”
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2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
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2021 Bourgeuil “Cuvée Beauvais”
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2020 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
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2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
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2019 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Clandestine”
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2022 Bourgueil Rosé
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2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
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2021 Bourgueil “La Dilettante”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2018 Chinon Blanc “Clos de la Plante Martin”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil Rosé “La Ritournelle”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Cheverny
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Cuvée Terroir”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2021 Bourgeuil “Cuvée Beauvais”
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2019 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Clandestine”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil Rosé
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2021 Bourgueil “La Dilettante”
Catherine & Pierre Breton 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