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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

2020 Vin de France Rouge Cabernet Franc “Huguette”
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2024 Reuilly “Les Pierres Plates”
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2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
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Thierry’s Saumur Blancs are bone-dry, high-acid, mineral Chenin Blancs that drink like Chablis young and take on weight slowly over time.

2022 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.

2024 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
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The contrast of ripe, succulent Chenin Blanc fruit with a spike of flinty minerality is like licking honey off an arrowhead.

2022 Sancerre “Les Coutones”
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A fleshy, full-bodied Sancerre with great freshness and the ability to age in bottle for a few years after release.

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

2023 Sancerre
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An intense exotic nose lures you in before the minerality channels the lightning energy of this pure Sauvignon Blanc.

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.
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
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2024 Jasnières “Cuvée du Silex”
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2020 Saumur Blanc “Terres”
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2024 Cheverny
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2021 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
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Vouvray Brut
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2022 Quincy “Château de Quincy”
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2022 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Réserve”
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2022 Jasnières “Cuvée Sainte Narcisse”
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2024 Jasnières “Cuvée du Silex”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2024 Sancerre Rosé
Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “Terres”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2024 Cheverny
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2023 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2021 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Saumur Mousseux “Bulles de Roche”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
Vouvray Brut
Champalou France | Loire
Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
Let the brett nerds retire into protective bubbles, and whenever they thirst for wine it can be passed in to them through a sterile filter. Those of us on the outside can continue to enjoy complex, natural, living wines.
Inspiring Thirst, page 236