Community Tasting Notes 5

• slanum wrote:

  December 18, 2008 - I bought a number of bottles of this when it was first released (paying around $12, I think) and enjoyed it at the time for its tangy, mineral straightforwardness. I guess I forgot about a couple of bottles because this turned up as I was recently reorganizing things. No longer nearly so simple, this offers up classic Chenin blanc notes of lanolin, honey, minerality, and spice. In general this was a vintage that really appealed to me because it produced ripe, fleshy wines with excellent acidity, and this example is still bright and crisp. Surprisingly enjoyable, even impressive. Is it possible for a wine's finish to get longer with age? This one's seems to have done just that.

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• zonker17 wrote: 91 points

  May 26, 2006 - You can't miss the pleasant mineral and honey combinations this wine offers. Leaves you wishing for a longer finish, because it's that good.

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• Rangstrom wrote: 89 points

  December 17, 2005 - I've read good things about this producer, but I've never seen any bottles on the shelf. So I jumped when offered the basic cuvee at a bargain per case price. After all, you can't have too much '02 Vouvray. I stored one bottle in the fridge as soon as I got home and opened it later that night to share with Dawn over some mild cheeses.
  
  I was very pleasantly surprised. Slightly off-dry with a nice minerally streak; decent balance with enough acid to be a good food wine. Not a mouth coating wine and the finish was not long--still I'm looking forward to the rest. I plan to check out the rest of Champalou's offerings the first chance I get.
  
  How good was this wine? Dawn took one sip, grabbed her checkbook and said she wanted to buy half the case for her wine stash: her girlfriends drink pretty well.

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• bacchus wrote: 86 points

  September 10, 2005 - enjoyed this with pat on the porch of the breakers in spring lake to celebrate her birthday. a surprising value, the restaurant did not mark the wine up significantly above retail. all the more enjoyable with oceanic ions hovering over the glass. will have to return in the spring to enjoy again.

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• mdstenner wrote: 91 points

  July 28, 2005 - An outstanding wine. Strong mineral streak on the nose and palate. Very dry, compact and well delineated flavors but highly expressive. Peach, honey and apple flavors. Superb VFM.

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Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2002
• Type White
• Producer Champalou
• Varietal Chenin Blanc
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country France
• Region Loire Valley
• SubRegion Touraine
• Appellation Vouvray

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 16 (31%)
• Consumed 35 (69%)

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