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Champalou

Catherine Champalou looked to be busy when I arrived at her family home, one summer too many years ago now. I espied her through a crack in the door which sat ajar; seated at a table covered with tariff sheets, order forms, receipts and all the other printed detritus of business, she was clearly deeply engrossed in a telephone conversation. It was a business call it seemed, perhaps from some level-headed wine merchant eager to get their hands on some of her and husband Didier's wines, top quality expressions of Vouvray in all its forms, sparkling, dry and sweet. Looking up from her call, Catherine acknowledged my presence and indicated that she would not be long, and so I kicked my heels outside while I waited for her to finish.

A few minutes later, with her business done, Catherine emerged from her kitchen-come-office and, with our introductions out of the way, she escorted me to their tasting room in a building across the gravel courtyard from the house. Although of very sympathetic construction this building looked to be a very recent addition to the Champalou estate, or at the very least it was the subject of a recent yet very sensitive refurbishment. Having crunched our way across the gravel courtyard we went inside, and there this initial suspicion was confirmed. In one the corner of the room there stood a smart if rather bijou tasting bar, and in the opposite corner a new wooden staircase coursed downwards to the barrel cellar. It all had the clean, sparkling lines of something brand new. I took a pew at the freshly waxed and polished tasting bar, and there my discovery of Champalou's Vouvrays began.

Well, that isn't quite true. Although my first time at the domaine, this was not actually the first time Catherine and I had met, and not quite the first time I had tasted her wines either; that moment had come earlier in the year at a tasting in London at which she had been present. It was at that meeting that I had managed to invite myself to the domaine during one of my subsequent visits to the Loire. Since then our paths have crossed a few times, although perhaps not as often as I would have liked, particularly given the quality of the wines and the reputation of the domaine. I seem to have visited and tasted here less often than at some other top Vouvray destinations, despite the fact that the majority of my encounters with the wines have been very positive. Although Catherine and Didier offer a more concise range of cuvées than some of their Vouvray peers, any judgement based on the style and quality of those wines can only conclude that this is one of the most significant domaines in the appellation.

Champalou: A History

This is not an ancient domaine, at least not under the name of Champalou. Didier and Catherine acquired the estate in 1983, having just graduated from the agricultural college at Montreuil-Bellay, to the south of Saumur. They both came from families of vignerons, so it is perhaps no surprise that they both followed the same path into viticulture and winemaking although neither, it seems, were content to follow in the footsteps laid down by their parents on this path. Determined to gain independence they started out by planting half a hectare of Chenin Blanc close to Vouvray, and from this embryonic beginning their estate began to grow. Today it covers an area more than forty times larger than this initial plot.

It did not take long for the Champalou's to make their presence felt within the appellation. Just a few years later, helped by some great vintages at the end of the 1980s, they were producing some of Vouvray's most stunning wines. Writing in A Wine and Food Guide to the Loire (Mitchell Beazley, 1996), Jacqueline Friedrich ranked the estate on the very top tier of her appellation hierarchy alongside Huet, Foreau and Fouquet, just thirteen years after they planted their first vines. Today Didier and Catherine, now joined by their daughter Céline following the completion of her oenology degree and the now common-place acquisition of experience in foreign lands, including New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, they remain one of the most reliable sources of Vouvray. Didier's main concern remains the vineyards, whereas Catherine - once principally concerned with activities in the cellar - now spends more time at that kitchen-table-desk of hers, dealing with administrative matters, as well as travelling to foreign markets to show their wines. Today it is Céline that oversees processes in the cellar. Occasionally Catherine and Didier's other daughter Virginie may be around to help out, but she spends most of her time in London, where she works for natural wine specialist Les Caves de Pyrene.

Champalou - The Vines and Wines

Although not formally organic or biodynamic, the Catherine and Didier Champalou profess to tend their 21 hectares of vines along sustainable lines, minimising the use of chemicals, reducing carbon emissions where possible. It is reasoned viticulture rather than organic, perhaps more akin to lutte raisonnée than anything else, with a little added astrology for good measure, with many of the common vineyard tasks timed to coincide with the phases of the moon. Perhaps lutte lunaire would be a more appropriate description? Their approach has been certified as 'sustainable' by Terra Vitis, an association of vignerons which promulgates the virtues of environmentally sensitive viticulture throughout France. The vines are naturally 100% Chenin Blanc, this being Vouvray, pruned in a gobelet fashion; the ripening is encouraged by leaf-thinning in the summer, and the harvest is manual, the decision to pick made on the basis of tasting the fruit in the vineyard.

Unlike a number of their peers in Vouvray the portfolio of wines is brief; whereas a tasting of the latest releases from any one of François Chidaine, Jacky Blot or Noël Pinguet at Domaine Huet might take half the morning, the range of wines here in each vintage runs at most to half a dozen, and that is only if the year is sufficiently blessed for the sweetest, most exalted cuvées to make an appearance. Hence these meetings and tastings are usually brief affairs, flying vinous visits if you will. But they are usually worth it; the quantity may be small, but the quality can be very high. The range of wines opens with a non-vintage sparkling Brut Vouvray, made from morning-harvested fruit fermented in stainless steel and allowed to rest on its lees in tank before bottling for the second fermentation. The wine then typically rests for 20 months sur lattes before disgorgement.

As for the vins tranquilles, these start with the entry level Vouvray Sec, which like the sparkling Brut comes from clay-limestone terroirs. Again morning-harvested fruit is pressed and then fermented in stainless steel followed by 11 months en cuve before bottling. A step up from this generic cuvée is Le Portail which originates from the vines directly adjacent to the Champalou cellars, planted on clay-rich soils. The fruit is pressed and then fermented in 500-litre oak barrels where it rests for perhaps 15 months (it can certainly be longer) before going into bottle. It is a cuvée which can be heavily marked by oak in youth, particularly the 2008 tasted recently which was raised in 100% new oak; as such it won't be to everybody's taste, at least not in its youth.

With a rise in residual sugar we move up to Champalou's demi-sec cuvée La Cuvée des Fondraux. This is also fermented in oak, in barrels originally used for Le Portail, and this older wood has much less impact on the style of the wine. As such this cuvée has a pure and elegantly mineral character which not only appeals greatly to me but which also showcases the style of the domaine most effectively. At the top of the tree there are two sweeter cuvées, both from sandy, flinty, clay-rich terroirs. The first is La Moelleuse (previously called Cuvée Moelleuse) made from grapes concentrated either by passerillage or botrytis, and then the even more concentrated Trie de Vendange (or Les Tries, previously also known as Cuvée Catherine or Cuvée CC), made from the richest hand-selected botrytised grapes picked on sequential passes (tries) through the vineyards, only in the most favourable vintages. These last two wines can be easily confused, as the Trie de Vendange label and the old-style Cuvée Moelleuse label (on the right, above) are very similar, and both have a dramatic calligraphed CC at their centre; I have seen a number of merchants list a wine as Cuvée CC only for it to turn out to be the Cuvée Moelleuse and not the Trie de Vendange. If shopping for these older vintages, look for the Trie de Vendange and Cuvée Moelleuse designations at the top of the label to tell them apart.

Champalou Opinion

My tasting experience when it comes to Champalou has been sporadic and does not go as deep as it does for some of my other favourite domaines in Vouvray. But it is sufficient to tell me that there is real quality here, the wines on occasion really hitting the mark. Their style tends to be very light in terms of fruit weight; instead it is one of ethereal minerality, delicate and harmonious, the wines softening down from the chalky, perfumed and rather feminine characteristics displayed in their youth into a more honed style of purity with time. As they evolve they seem to prefer the translation of terroir, combined with a floral lift, rather than to display anything so base as Chenin fruit. Catch the wines in their youth and they can seem disappointing; they come across as blowsy and overly-perfumed, such characteristics unsupported by the light substance of the wine. But waiting a few years - longer with the sweeter wines - should bring dividends; with a few years in bottle they can provide one of the most ethereal and defined expressions of Vouvray available. The wines of Huet, Chidaine, Fouquet, Foreau and Blot may on occasion dance across the palate, but only those of Champalou will exhibit the graceful tours chaînés déboulés of a top ballerina. (19/8/04, updated 29/9/10)

Contact details:
Address: Le Portail, 7 rue du Grand Ormeau, 37210 Vouvray
Telephone: +33 (0) 2 47 52 64 49
Fax: +33 (0) 2 47 52 67 99
Internet: www.champalou.com

Champalou - Tasting Notes

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Champalou Vouvray 2010: A sample from cuve. A fresh and crisp hue here. A good nose, lightly stony, with an appealing but well judged layer of fruit. On the palate this fruit comes across as supple and crunchy, with lots of lovely juicy acidity, quite fleshy, with good substance but also lots of delicious acidity. This is vigorous, vivacious and very correct. That touch of juiciness to the fruit I especially like. Certainly good potential here. From a 2011 Champalou update. 16-17/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray Fondraux 2010: Fermented en futs, only old oak, from where this sample comes. Clean and bright fruit on the nose, just with a slightly richer feel to it that the straight domaine cuvée. Still very clean and precise though. Very fresh and juicy on the palate, with a floral feel here. Lots of good acidity and also a streak of minerality to cut through soft character, with overall a pretty but also full and vigorous style. Really very attractive. From a 2011 Champalou update. 16.5-17.5/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray 2009: Bottled September 2010. An attractive and rather relaxed style of fruit on the nose. The palate has a supple and rather broad style in keeping with the vintage, although there are structural elements to it that keep it fresh, and a nice acidity and minerality although they are well hidden under the rather plump, white floral fruit. From a 2011 Champalou update. 16/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray Fondraux 2009: Vinification and élevage in oak, using barrels from the previous years Le Portail. Residual sugar 22 g/l. A fresher style than Le Portail on the nose here; it is amazing what one year can do in terms of oak influence. It has a lovely substance on the palate but the fruit and the appellation both shine through here, lemony and zesty but with a gentle sweetness and good acidity backing it up. This is certainly one of the stronger wines here. Good acid backbone, and a little minerality too. From a 2011 Champalou update. 17/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray La Moelleuse 2009: This cuvée originates from a mix of botrytis and passerillé, the pickers also taking some unaffected grapes in order to bring freshness to the cuvée. The residual sugar is 60 g/l, alcohol 11%. Aromatically this is indeed very fresh, with a water-white floral spring meadow nose, gentle but very showing great purity and bright sweetness on the palate, albeit with a rather floral and feminine character so typical of Champalou. Underneath it all there is a fresh acidity which brings the fresh and floral character along with the sweetness. An attractive wine. From a 2011 Champalou update. 17/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray Les Tries 2009: Here the fruit is harvested grape by grape, says Catherine, picked by hand not secateurs, taking only fruit affected by noble rot. Appears in only occasional vintages, including 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2003. The residual sugar is 150 g/l. Very lightly honeyed fruit on the nose, very suggestive of golden star fruit and yellow plum. Full and broad on the palate, with a lightly honeyed golden fruit, hints of beeswax, but still very floral, bright and crystalline but with a pretty, crunchy style. Very generous but with a very fine presence, elegant but also very seductive. An appealing wine, and still very true to the Champalou style. From a 2011 Champalou update. 18+/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray 2008: Residual sugar 8 g/l. Like the non-vintage sparkler tasted alongside this too has a very perfumed and yet stony character on the nose which is very typical of the Champalou style. A delicate character, but with lots of aroma, very pure, linear and lightly mineral. The palate has an evocative styling, very sappy and composed; this is a deliciously integrated and well-structured wine that just slides elegantly across the palate. From a 2010 Champalou update. 16-16.5+/20 (February 2010)

Champalou Vouvray Le Portail 2008: This sees 18 months in new 450-litre oak barrels with bâtonnage. Bottled March 2010. Residual sugar 5 g/l. Rather a polished feel to the nose, there is wood here but less obvious than in some vintages. It adds a rather honeyed dimension to it. A lovely feel on the palate, with polished and plump fruit, although there is a strong showing from the oak here as well. Good grip though, through into the finish too. There are some attractive elements here, but I would prefer less oak. From a 2011 Champalou update. 15/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée des Fondraux 2008: From a clay-limestone terroir, with a residual sugar of 25 g/l. A beautifully pure nose, lightly honeyed but very delicate and mineral in style. There is beautiful flesh on the palate, with great purity, the intense minerality here backed up by a fine weight. A strong and stony finish, really elegant, with good length too. Impressive as ever. From a 2010 Champalou update. 16-17+/20 (February 2010)

Champalou Vouvray La Moelleuse 2008: This is the old Cuvée Moelleuse as it was also sometimes known, produced in small quantities in 2008. Bottled in 500 ml bottles, residual sugar 50 g/l. An aromatic and stylish wine, with great finesse. A lovely mineral style, fine and precise. Broad and structured, but also very elegant, just gliding across the palate. A pretty and rather ethereal style of moelleux which is the best you can hope for from 2008 I think. From a 2010 Champalou update. 16-17+/20 (February 2010)

Champalou Vouvray Le Portail 2007: This cuvée spent 18 months sur lie in 450-litre barrels, all new. The nose just reeks of new oak. The palate has a fine texture and substance, broad and mouthfilling in terms of character, grippy and even with the suggestion of wood tannin. The oak flavours do dominate here, not surprising at a domaine where the fruit character is so delicate to start with. This doesn't appeal in its present state, but I am optimistic that the oak will be shed with a few years in the cellar. From a 2010 Champalou update. 15-16+?/20 (February 2010)

Champalou Vouvray 2006: Catherine and Didier Champalou are respected growers based very near Vouvray, but this was a very poor vintage for the region. The wines has attractive, soft, minerally, restrained fruits on the nose, which seems fairly open and harmonious. The palate seems rather fat but fresh, with gentle acidity, a rounded and slightly sappy character, and a nice streak of mineral. Harmonious, juicy and fresh, this is a well made 2006. From an Enotria tasting. 15.5-16/20 (February 2009)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée des Fondraux 2004: A glorious hue, pale but shimmering, a very gentle colour, like the flesh of a honeydew melon. The nose certainly has complexity, quite subtle at first, then with the richness of honey intertwined with more ethereal elements, liquid stone, flower petals and sweet straw. The palate is simply enticing, showing well defined honey-tinged flavours of apples, pears, white melon and more, all carried along by a gentle residual sugar giving the midpalate a fine, fleshy roundness. Gentle acidity, and a sappy, pithy, but also rather juicy quality to the fruit. Heady, stony and lightly perfumed towards the finish, with elements of lemon zest, chalk, and overall a quite ethereal style. For a wine from what is generally regarded as a lesser vintage this is very fine indeed, with good length at the end. One for drinking now rather than the cellar though, I think. For label images and more see my Wine of the Week write-up. 17/20 (July 2010)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée des Fondraux 2003: Rounded minerally fruit with a touch of honey again here, but showing much more structure on a nicely rounded palate here. Clean, some sweetness, minerally like the nose. A touch more concentration. Good. 15+/20 (May 2004)

Champalou Vouvray 2002: A very expressive, stylish nose, of minerals with a touch of honey. Clean mineral and chalk character on the palate. Rounds out in the mouth, with a honey streak like the nose. Balanced. Good. 15+/20 (May 2004)

Champalou Vouvray Clos du Portail 2002: Wonderful, aromatic, mineral, plump pineapple and dried fruit nose. Classic Chenin with a stony edge, and suggesting a little more richness on the nose than previously. Beautiful palate, with fresh yet weighty mineral fruit. This has real grip and verve, and displays superb balance that causes the wine to simply glide across the palate. Continues to open out, building weight and flavour, before a pepper-laden finish. Quite some length too. Fantastic wine, which may yet develop further. From a Loire Extravaganza tasting. 17+/20 (July 2005)

Champalou Vouvray Clos du Portail 2002: A special cuvée made from the vines around the Champalou home, and Catherine informs me sold only from the domaine (although I have seen it listed by one UK merchant). Potent, mineral, aromatic nose. Lovely balance and elegance on the palate with fresh flavour, almost smoky minerals and vibrancy. This is one of the greatest dry Vouvrays I have tasted from Champalou. 17+/20 (June 2004)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée Moelleuse 2002: Pale hue. Water-light nose, floral and suggestive of delicate sweetness. Sweet, weighty, balanced palate, showing fresh, floral, slightly minty white fruit. Full structure, with fine acidity and a little grip. This is pleasant now, but brimming with potential for the future. My score reflects hope of development rather than current pleasure - this needs ten years minimum. From a Loire Extravaganza tasting. 18+/20 (July 2005)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée Moelleuse 2002: My second tasting of this cuvée in just a few weeks. As before, fresh nose. Elegance and freshness on the palate, balanced sweetness. Finesse rather than power from this vintage. Excellence indeed. 18+/20 (June 2004)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée Moelleuse 2002: A restrained nose, with floral and acacia notes. A fabulous palate; elegant, with wonderful texture and superbly balanced acidity. Pure, minerally, a lick of fruit and a sweet honeyed streak. Shows real class. This is brilliant. 18+/20 (May 2004)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée Moelleuse 1996: An appealing golden hue here, indicative of the richness that can now be found in this wine, on the nose and on the palate. Aromatically it is soft and honeyed, with notes of ginger cake, and moist, rich brown sugar laid over the lightly mineral, herbal tea nuances. The fruit definition has a gently crystalline character, and from time to time it displays a little flourish of intensity, a sudden blast of sweet and candied fruits. The palate carries a very broad style, very expressive with a maturing, honeyed style very redolent of the variety, with some good grip developing an appealing piquancy towards the end, as well as fresh and firm acidity which brings a biting, blood orange character to the wine. What impresses most though is the wonderfully relaxed, polished, soft and mellifluous presence this wine has on the palate. There is also a gentle seam of oxidative complexity here, running through the very core of the wine; it adds an extra frisson to the whole affair which works well with the wine's orange-fruit depth. I did once lose faith in this particular vintage of the Cuvée Moelleuse, but this and the last bottle have been delicious. It has just a delightful grip and tautness to the backbone, despite that soft and sweet presence of fruit. From my 1996 Vintage Fifteen Years On tasting. 18/20 (December 2011)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée Moelleuse 1996: It is now three years since my last taste of this, and there has certainly been development during that time, evident first of all in the colour, which as a slightly deeper, golden tinge than the pale hue it has displayed on previous tastings. The nose too has a new dimension, honeyed and crystalline, with a quartz-like crispness, quince, straw and herbal tea - these are very welcome developments, and this wine now shows much more what I would expect from such a cuvée. Lovely gentle sweetness on the palate, broad and crystalline, buoyed up by firm acidity which will keep this wine going for years I would think. Notes of orange, marrowy flesh, but well framed and structured, and overall very fine. Grippy finish too. Still very much on the way up. For label images and more see my Wine of the Week write-up. 17.5+/20 (January 2010)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée Moelleuse 1996: A pale hue, as I noted with my last tasting, over two years ago. The nose offers some fairly classic aromas, of quince and honey, offset by a firm, mineral, chalky character not noted with my last bottle. Fine presence on the palate, moderately sweet, demonstrating a light, ethereal character with some pleasingly fresh acidity. Nicely balanced, and with a good length. At first it appears as though this wine has changed little, but with some air it does begin to show a very welcome caramel and toffee character, and develops a real melting, buttery, creaminess on the endpalate. It's subtle, though. But with a few more years, and then a few more, this could be truly great. 17.5+/20 (April 2006)

Champalou Vouvray Cuvée Moelleuse 1996: A moderate, lemon-gold colour offers no clue to the delights that await. A fresh, vibrant nose gives some suggestion, with its aromas of honey, quince, herbs and tea. The same on the palate, which is full of life. Deliciously fresh and exciting, with some richness, and delightful balance. Fantastic acidity, with a green apple and quince character, which underpins the developing honeyed mouthfeel. Brilliant. This was a perfect match for some Stilton from the Cropwell Bishop Creamery. 18+/20 (August 2003)

Champalou Vouvray Moelleux 1990: A pale hue. Attractive, fresh lemony acidity on the nose. An abundance of sweet dessert fruit on the palate, with fantastic acidity. Beautifully fresh wine, with more good fruit on the finish. From a 1990 vintage ten year on blind tasting. 18/20 (August 2000)

Tasting notes are ordered by date of tasting, most recent first. I have tried to indicate whether it is a tasting of a new release, or of a wine I have cellared.

Champalou Vouvray Pétillant Brut NV: Although non-vintage this is dominated by 2008, which accounts for 90% of the blend, with 10% 2007. Disgorged December 2010. It has an expressive nose, fresh and zesty fruit here, although it is tinged with little notes of toffee and also some crunchy, golden fruits which are very appealing. A fresh palate, more floral here than on the nose, also stony, with a good mousse leading into a clean and rather precise finish. Certainly some appeal here. From a 2011 Champalou update. 16/20 (January 2011)

Champalou Vouvray Brut NV: Current release. The nose here is quite perfumed, lightly stony, with a very gentle character quite typical of the domaine. A nice palate, quite full in the mouth, with lots of foaming mousse. A good clean style, with a powerful acid backbone. There is plenty of appealing character here. From a 2010 Champalou update. 15.5-16+/20 (February 2010)

Champalou Vouvray Brut NV: Current release. A pale wine, with a lovely green and grassy nose. Very fresh, delicate green flavours on the palate, with appealing pétillance. Clean, leafy. A good example of this style. 14.5+/20 (May 2004)