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2023 Vouvray
Champalou
Céline Champalou’s Vouvray is always a joy to drink. The wine seems so pure, as if it bubbled up out of the limestone into a cool, limpid pool tended by nymphs and satyrs who pour it into the mouths of weary souls. That’s what I feel, anyway, when I grab a bottle from the fridge.
—Dustin Soiseth
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2023 |
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: | 12.5% |
More from this Producer or Region

2020 Vin de France Rouge Cabernet Franc “Huguette”
France | Loire
Huguette is a silky, peppery Cabernet Franc from vines over a century in age.

2022 Chinon “Cuvée Terroir”
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The perfect combination of tart red fruit, herbaceousness, and graphite earthiness.

2023 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
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It fills the mouth with suspicions of honeysuckle and pulpy stone fruits, all while maintaining classic notes of iodine and sea breeze that make this the vinous equivalent of tidepooling.

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.

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.

2018 Saumur Blanc “Le Clos du Moulin”
France | Loire
Thierry Germain’s meticulous process coaxes out the delicate and aromatic side of Chenin Blanc—think jasmine, honeysuckle, and peach.

2019 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
France | Loire
Chinons from Joguet are known for their firm minerality, but this one is quite charming as well, with plummy black fruit, myrtle, and notes of warm licorice.

2023 Chardonnay
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Some wines deliver well beyond expectations—this is one of them.

2023 Jasnières “Cuvée du Silex”
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This Chenin Blanc has a tart sweetness, or perhaps a sweet tartness—with neither overbearing—that epitomizes good balance and will have you greedily reaching for your glass.
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
2023 Jasnières
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2017 Jasnières “Chant de Vigne”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2023 Saumur Champigny “Cuvée Domaine”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Sancerre
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2022 Saumur Champigny “La Foulée”
Domaine des Roches Neuves France | Loire
2023 Vin de France Brut Nature “Elle est pas bulle, la vie?”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2021 Bourgueil “La Dilettante”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu sur lie “La Nöe”
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2023 Quincy
Domaine Trotereau France | Loire
2022 Sancerre “Les Coutones”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
Vouvray Brut
Champalou France | Loire
2023 Jasnières
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2017 Jasnières “Chant de Vigne”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2023 Saumur Champigny “Cuvée Domaine”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Sancerre
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2022 Saumur Champigny “La Foulée”
Domaine des Roches Neuves France | Loire
2023 Vin de France Brut Nature “Elle est pas bulle, la vie?”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2021 Bourgueil “La Dilettante”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu sur lie “La Nöe”
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2023 Quincy
Domaine Trotereau France | Loire
2022 Sancerre “Les Coutones”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
Vouvray Brut
Champalou 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