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2024 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: | 2024 |
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% |
More from this Producer or Region

2016 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
France | Loire
Given light treatment in the cellar, this wine shows off Cabernet in its most delicate, charming form.

2024 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.

2020 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
France | Loire
This dry Chenin Blanc is etched from the white limestone beneath—crystalline, pure, and chiseled.

2022 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.

2024 Jasnières
France | Loire
Racy, slightly honeyed, exotically perfumed, and loaded with minerality, this wine is an excellent representation of how Chenin reacts to the local conditions.

2022 Chinon Blanc
France | Loire
Ultra fresh and brimming with citrus blossom and orchard fruit notes, it has a saline, mineral finish that leaves my palate begging for more.

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.

Vouvray Brut “La Dilettante”
France | Loire
Dry Champagne-method sparkler that delivers tremendous value.

Vouvray Brut MAGNUM
France | Loire
A bubbly for any day of the week–bone-dry and super fresh

2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
France | Loire
This wine in the Breton book is a pure old-vine Grolleau from soils of clay and silex.
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 Kimmeridgian 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
2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2019 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2024 Reuilly “Les Pierres Plates”
Domaine de Reuilly France | Loire
2021 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2016 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2022 Quincy “Vieilles Vignes”
Domaine Trotereau France | Loire
Vouvray Brut MAGNUM
Champalou France | Loire
2022 Vouvray “Le Portail”
Champalou France | Loire
2024 Sancerre
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2019 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2024 Reuilly “Les Pierres Plates”
Domaine de Reuilly France | Loire
2021 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2016 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2022 Quincy “Vieilles Vignes”
Domaine Trotereau France | Loire
Vouvray Brut MAGNUM
Champalou France | Loire
2022 Vouvray “Le Portail”
Champalou France | Loire
2024 Sancerre
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
Kermit once said...

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.