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2021 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
ChampalouCrafting impeccably balanced, off-dry wines like this is no simple task, but the Champalou Fondraux rolls over the tongue so fluidly that you might be tempted to think the berries tasted just like this when they were picked off the vine. It comes down to masterful winemaking, in which precision and savoir faire replace the need for technological intervention to create a velvety, suave Vouvray that oozes class. The contrast of ripe, succulent Chenin Blanc fruit with a spike of flinty minerality is like licking honey off an arrowhead.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2021 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Chenin Blanc |
Appellation: | Vouvray |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Champalou |
Winemaker: | Catherine & Didier Champalou |
Vineyard: | 45 years average, 4 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone, Flint |
Farming: | Sustainable |
Alcohol: | 12.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
Vouvray Brut
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September Club Chevalier ~ 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.
2023 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.
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.
2023 Jasnières
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Racy, slightly honeyed, exotically perfumed, and loaded with minerality, this wine is an excellent representation of how Chenin reacts to the local conditions.
2021 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
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Intensely dry and mineral, the structured Les Arceaux is a bottle to pair with a meal rather than to drink as an apéritif.
2023 Reuilly “Les Pierres Plates”
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Consistently one of the Loire’s finest Sauvignon Blancs
2018 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc
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The fruit is concentrated, deep, and pure, suggesting wild brambles and tart blackberries, along with an earthy, spicy component and hints of cedar.
2018 Vouvray “La Moelleuse”
France | Loire
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.
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 Quincy
France | Loire
October Adventures Club ~ You’ll appreciate the distinctive flavor profile: born from warmer soils, it tastes of ripe, succulent citrus devoid of grassiness, while boasting the same flinty nerve as a good Sancerre.
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
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2023 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
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2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
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2023 Sancerre Rosé
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2021 Vin de France Blanche
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2023 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Cuvée du Rosier”
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2020 Sancerre Champs d’Alligny
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2023 Reuilly Pinot Noir
Domaine de Reuilly France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2023 Menetou-Salon Blanc “Le Prieuré”
Prieuré de Saint Céols France | Loire
2023 Bourgueil Rosé
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2023 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” Blanc
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2019 Sancerre Rouge “Champs d’Alligny”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rosé
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
Great winemakers, great terroirs, there is never any hurry. And I no longer buy into this idea of “peak” maturity. Great winemakers, great terroirs, their wines offer different pleasures at different ages.
Inspiring Thirst, page 312