Intense toasted and dry-fleshed aromas from the barrel, with smoky notes around a core of ripe almost exotic fruit. Tensions are piercing, with the bouquet developing beautifully in the glass. The palate has the natural harmony of all the Champalou family wines. The volume and richness of the wine are balanced thanks to its spectacular - razor-like -...
It's not just this historic piece of land across the river from Savennieres, a stunning - yet unexplored - terroir for dry wines, that Vanessa uses as the basis for some of the most delicious wines of the extremely fashionable Loire variety. She continues to nurture this great 50+ year old vineyard that sits on shale and sandstone soils with biodynamic...
Manual harvesting with multiple passes through the vineyard to collect the botrytised grapes and then slow fermentation with the native yeasts. The wine is matured for at least a year in oak barrels. Its sweetness is measured and is superbly balanced by the high acidity of the wine. So despite the concentration and sweetness, this balance of acidity adds...
Vanessa produces this beautiful red blend from the famous slopes of Chaume. The Cabernet gives extra depth and power to the exquisite fruit and freshness of the Cabernet Franc. Black and red fruit and a fine line of herbaceousness that is so characteristic of the Loire. Extremely enjoyable, expressive from the first moment you taste it which is its charm....
The entire "Les Fossiles" range comes from fossil-rich soils in the Reuilly region and is vinified exclusively with indigenous yeasts. The small appellation of origin, just off the banks of the Loire River, can offer just as pleasing and enjoyable Pinot Noir as the neighbouring Sancerre. "Les Fossiles" has a very nice cherry expression on the nose and...
"Les Pierres Plates" comes from the homonymous vineyard in Reuilly on limestone soils filled with fossilized shells in an area that was once the bottom of a large sea. The vineyard is biodynamically farmed and in the winery interventions are minimal, highlighting the specificity of the terroir. Pulsating, lemony fruit, on a nose of crystal clarity with...
It will not remind anyone of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The green notes are in the background, while the intense lemony aromas and fruit like green apple and grapefruit come out in front, giving it freshness combined with a very mineral chalky character. With its acidity levels you feel it is dry to the bone, very refreshing and relatively light and...
Delicious, expressive, fresh red fruit, reminiscent of cherry and wild strawberry along with some mineral notes that suggest iodine and herbal hints that bring to mind coriander and mint. A fine thread of tannins unfolds on the palate, just enough to provide the structure that even a wine so fine in line and delicacy would need. "Les Pierres Plates" comes...
Its name means the cradle of the fairies and is borrowed from the forest bordering the young vines of the Domaine aux Moines estate. The vines are grown organically and with biodynamic practices and the wine is produced with a perfectly gentle natural vinification, with indigenous yeasts and no added sulphites. The wine is vinified and matured in...
Its name means the cradle of the fairies and is borrowed from the forest bordering the young vines of the Domaine aux Moines estate. The vines are grown organically and with biodynamic practices and the wine is produced with a perfectly gentle natural vinification, with indigenous yeasts and no added sulphites. The wine is vinified and matured in...
La Santa de Ursula shares wild botanical hints, flowers and beautiful red fruits. A minerality reminiscent of smoke and sulphur is typical of Tenerife wines and this wine does not fall short of that. Wild, special, unique and typical of the region, La Santa de Ursula is vinified differently depending on the vineyard, and part of it is vinified with...
The Champalou family's dry Vouvray is a perfect representation of the region's style. It is a textbook example of the Chenin Blanc variety as expressed in this corner of the Loire. Here the chameleonic dimension of the grape, which can display many different "faces", finds its most classic expression. Unripe tropical fruit, fleshy lemons, honey and...
