Why it matters
The producer
Champalou gives one grape several distinct jobs. Chenin Blanc appears as dry Vouvray Sec, lightly sweet demi-sec, concentrated moelleux and traditional-method sparkling wine, so the label tells you more than the colour of the bottle. It tells you how much sweetness, freshness or sparkle to expect.
Catherine Champalou represents the 12th generation of winemakers in Vouvray. Didier Champalou comes from the sixth generation of his family’s winemaking line in Poitou. The estate is also a familiar introduction to Vouvray on restaurant lists and retail shelves outside France, where its broad range makes the appellation easier to understand through actual bottles.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Vouvray is both the village and the appellation, and Chenin Blanc is the grape at its centre. The estate’s vineyards reach across Vouvray, Vernou-sur-Brenne and Chançay, giving Champalou fruit from three communes within the same appellation. The range follows the local vocabulary: sec for dry wine, demi-sec for a lightly sweet wine, moelleux for a sweeter style, and pétillant or mousseux for sparkling forms.
The Première Côte provides the estate’s main vineyard setting. A single appellation can therefore produce a dry white with saline freshness, a sweet wine with apricot and quince, or a bottle-fermented sparkling wine, with Chenin Blanc carrying the place through each form.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The vineyard work begins with approximately twenty hectares of Chenin Blanc spread through Vouvray, Vernou-sur-Brenne and Chançay. In the cellar, malolactic fermentation is avoided across the range, leaving Chenin Blanc’s natural acidity available to balance dry fruit, residual sugar and sparkling pressure.
Vouvray Sec is fermented in stainless steel and spends eleven months on fine lees. The stainless vessel keeps the wine’s dry, fresh profile in focus, while the lees period gives the texture more time before bottling. Vouvray Brut takes a different path, using traditional bottle fermentation and extended lees contact for its sparkling form.
Wines to know
The range in view
Vouvray Sec is the dry reference point. It is Chenin Blanc fermented in stainless steel, with eleven months on fine lees, and the style brings green apple, quince and a saline mineral finish. Vouvray Sec Classic 2024 is described as fresh and fruity, making the current vintage a direct expression of this dry lane.
Vouvray Demi-Sec sits between dry and sweet. It contains approximately eight to twelve grams per litre of residual sugar, while Chenin Blanc’s natural acidity keeps the sweetness balanced. Les Fondraux 2024 gives this part of the range a named example, with white-flower aromatics and mineral freshness.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Vouvray Sec Classic 2024 is the first bottle to open. It is the estate’s dry Chenin Blanc in a fresh and fruity form, with the wider Vouvray Sec profile of green apple, quince and a saline mineral finish. Stainless-steel fermentation keeps the fruit clear, and eleven months on fine lees gives the palate more breadth without moving it away from its dry, mineral shape. It introduces the grape, the appellation and Champalou’s decision to keep malolactic fermentation out of the cellar in one bottle.