CHÂTEAU VALANDRAUD
2015 Grand Cru Saint Emilion
| Colour | Red |
| Origin | France, Bordeaux |
| Sub-district | Saint Emilion & Satellites |
| Village | Saint Emilion |
| Classification | Grand Cru |
Only seen once, and fleetingly. Very thick and plush, then some concentrated intensity, but no character: it could have come from anywhere. Shame, would love to have seen a better sample. Rating: ? L&S (Apr 2016)
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Plenty of toasty oak and extract here. This has immensely concentrated fruits with powerful yet silky tannins. Blackberry and dark-plum aromas dominate the nose with hints of dark chocolate and candied orange. Flavors follow suit amid fluid, muscular tannins that hold long into the finish. Great wine. Drinking range: 2023 - Rating: 98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
Jean-Luc Thunevin has made an ambitiously structured Valandraud in 2015: rich, supple and super ripe with plenty of dark berry concentration, lashings of oak and sturdy tannins. Time will tell if there’s enough acidity to keep the wine fresh in bottle. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030 Rating: 91 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2016)
New label. Very dark crimson. Almost roasted nose seems rather vieux jeu. Salty and sweet. Pushed to the limit. Sweet and sour impression. Not one of my favourite styles but I'm sure it will find favour with some palates. Awfully demanding and dry on the end. Though it certainly is concentrated. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 16.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
Château Valandraud
Among the garagiste wineries of the 1990’s, none was more garagiste than Château Valandraud. When Jean-Luc Thunevin and his wife Murielle bought a couple of tiny plots of wines in 1989, the only place they had to make their wine was in a garage in the back streets of St Emilion village. The better of the two plots was 0.6ha just outside the village squashed between Pavie-Macquin and Le Clotte in a little valley called the Vallon de Fongaban – tacking the “Val” from Vallon on to Murielle’s maiden name – Andraud – they came up with the name Valandraud. Necessity as much as thirst for quality meant that practically everything was done meticulously by hand. The first release was in 1991. The 1992 was released at First Growth kinds of prices, which turned heads and set Château Valandraud on the path to cult status. Gradually more vineyard has been purchased including the previously obscure Château Bel-Air-Ouÿ in Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse, way out east near the border with the Côtes de Castillon, meaning Château Valandraud now has a château. With the purchase of Bel-Air-Ouÿ, it is interesting to note that the majority of this undoubtedly great estate’s vineyards lie far outside the established area of the St Emilion plateau. Valandraud’s meteoric rise was crowned by its elevation from nowhere to Premier Grand Cru Classé (B) status in the 2012 St Emilion classification, and few would bet against the B being turned into an A if St Emilion can bear the turmoil of a further classification in the future. The vineyards are around 70% Merlot, with anything from 65% to 100% going into the main cuvée. Most of the rest of the vineyards are Cabernet Franc, but there are smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Carmenère. The wine is aged in 100% new oak. There are, also, around 2ha of vineyard dedicated to white wine production. Aside from Château Valandraud, there is Virginie de Valandraud which is often described as the second wine of the estate but Thunevin insist it is more of an alternative cuvée with Le 3 de Valandraud being the actual second wine.
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