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Champalou Update, January 2011
Champalou
This update relates to wines tasted in
January 2011.
For more on this estate, including all my relevant tasting notes, see my Champalou profile.
A tasting of the latest vintage with Catherine Champalou - and these days her daughter Céline is just as likely to be present - never takes too long. Although Catherine and her husband Didier have been settled at their domaine on the road heading north out of Vouvray since 1983, and have long been producing wines regarded by many as some of the best in the appellation, the Champalou portfolio has - unlike that from Huet or Chidaine, for instance - always remained very focused. In a typical vintage there are just a handful of wines, dry and sweet.
I have already made some comments on the 2010 vintage for Touraine, both in my report on the Loire 2010 vintage, and in my domaine-specific updates already published, such as those for Domaine Huet and François Chidaine. As I discussed in the former, the "cooler than average" soundbite statistic is quite false, as the temperatures were generally above or at least close to the average, the average being based on a thirty-year dataset which includes many atypically warm years. Nevertheless Catherine recounts a run of cooler temperatures during the spring, and rather tellingly the progress of the 2010 growing season is described as merely "OK". She describes her wines in this vintage as "agreeable, classic, pretty, with good minerality, but not for long keeping".
As it was I tasted just two cuvées from this most recent vintage, the domaine Vouvray and Le Fondraux, both still en cuve, and both were quite attractive. Then after a taste of the non-vintage pétillant cuvée, I tasted a mix of wines from 2008 and 2009. From the former, Le Portail, which I usually find too heavily marked by new oak to give any real pleasure, and this vintage was no exception. Then from 2009, Le Fondraux, showing very well, and both of the top sweet cuvées, La Moelleuse and Les Tries. It was a pleasure to see the latter cuvée, as this only makes an appearance in occasional vintages, which have been - if I caught all the dates Catherine rolled out - 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2003. Les Tries was certainly the more seductive wine, with 150 g/l residual sugar versus 60 g/l in the former, and a much more complex, nuanced style on the palate. Both wines, though, are very much in the crisp, crystalline-floral style that is the Champalou hallmark. (2/6/11)
Champalou Update, 2011 - Tasting Notes
The wines below were tasted in Angers at the
Salon des Vins de Loire in
January 2011.
All my notes on the wines of Champalou, including those below, are collated under my
Champalou profile. Click
to locate stockists.
First up, two samples from the 2010 vintage.
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. 16-17/20
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. 16.5-17.5/20
A single sparkling wine between the barrel samples and bottled wines.
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. 16/20
The wines here are all in bottle, and all come from the 2009 vintage save for a single 2008. I have left my notes in order of tasting.
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.
16/20
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. 15/20
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. 17/20
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. 17/20
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. 18+/20
