Notify me
2023 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
Champalou![- Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant](https://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2023-Vouvray-Les-Fondraux-product-image-9564-medium.jpg)
Crafting 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: | 2023 |
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
![2022 Vouvray Champalou](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2022-Vouvray-product-image-7089-medium.jpg)
2022 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.
![2018 Vouvray “La Moelleuse” Champalou](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2018-Vouvray-La-Moelleuse-product-image-5306-medium.jpg)
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.
![2021 Chinon Bernard Baudry](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2021-Chinon-product-image-7934-medium.jpg)
2021 Chinon
France | Loire
It is fresh and buoyant enough for casual fare yet has the stuffing to accompany heartier dishes, while its vivid raspberry fruit makes it extremely approachable today, notwithstanding its medium-term aging potential.
![2021 Chinon “Les Grézeaux” Bernard Baudry](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2021-Chinon-Les-Grzeaux-product-image-7088-medium.jpg)
2021 Chinon “Les Grézeaux”
France | Loire
A textbook Chinon like this merits simple, rustic cuisine such as roast game, baked potatoes, and sautéed porcini mushrooms.
![2022 Bourgueil “Trinch!” Catherine & Pierre Breton](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2022-Bourgueil-Trinch-product-image-8191-medium.jpg)
2022 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
France | Loire
Peppery and bright, earthy and juicy all at once.
![Vouvray Brut Champalou](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-Vouvray-Brut-product-image-8310-medium.jpg)
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.
![2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre” Thierry Germain](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2020-Saumur-Champigny-Outre-Terre-product-image-6512-medium.jpg)
2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre”
France | Loire
Outre Terre is a tiny production of Cabernet Franc fermented in amphora and aged in barrel.
![2019 Vouvray “Le Portail” Champalou](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2019-Vouvray-Le-Portail-product-image-6619-medium.jpg)
2019 Vouvray “Le Portail”
France | Loire
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.
![2021 Vin de France <i>Blanche</i> Domaine Michel Brégeon](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2021-Vin-de-France-iBlanchei-product-image-6694-medium.jpg)
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.
![2020 Saumur Champigny “Clos de l’Échelier” Thierry Germain](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2020-Saumur-Champigny-Clos-de-lchelier-product-image-6132-medium.jpg)
2020 Saumur Champigny “Clos de l’Échelier”
France | Loire
Fine, with bright acid, sleek silkiness, and great length, it is the most elegant of all of Thierry’s red wines.
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 Vouvray “Pierres Rousses”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rosé
Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2019 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Clandestine”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “L’Insolite”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rosé
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Cuvée Sainte Narcisse”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2022 Chinon Rosé
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2021 Saumur Champigny “Terres Chaudes”
Domaine des Roches Neuves France | Loire
2022 Chardonnay
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2017 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2021 Vouvray “Pierres Rousses”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rosé
Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2019 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Clandestine”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “L’Insolite”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rosé
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Cuvée Sainte Narcisse”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2022 Chinon Rosé
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2021 Saumur Champigny “Terres Chaudes”
Domaine des Roches Neuves France | Loire
2022 Chardonnay
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2017 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
Kermit once said...
![Kermit inspecting wine barrels](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/content/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-Kermit-once-said-image_img_1-13428-medium.jpeg)
Kermit once said...
For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.