France

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Ch. Valandraud

Chateau Valandraud Premier Grand Cru Classe B Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Bordeaux

Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Deep garnet-purple colored. Needs a little coaxing before it bursts with bold notes of black raspberries, wild blueberries, and cedar, followed by hints of sassafras, dusty soil, rose oil, and pipe tobacco. The medium-bodied palate is taut with black and red berry layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and perfumed.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

The 2023 Valandraud has a deep garnet-purple color. It needs some patient swirling to bring out fragrant notes of star anise, Indian spices, cedar chest, and fragrant soil, giving way to a core of plum preserves and blackberry pie. Full-bodied, concentrated, and built like a brick house, it has firm, chewy tannins and bags of freshness, finishing very long and opulent. This will take some time to come around, yet should be a very long-lived Valandraud! The blend is 84% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon with a pH of 3.5. It is aging in 100% new oak barrels. The alcohol is 15%.

The 2022 Valandraud is a blend of 88% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, aging for 18-24 months in 100% new oak. Deep purple-black in color, it spills from the glass with notes of baked black plums, boysenberry preserves, and fruitcake, leading to an undercurrent of cedar chest, Indian spices, and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, rich, and spicy, the palate has fantastic tension and a firm, fine-grained texture, finishing with great length. pH 3.55.

Valandraud 2021 has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It rolls out with ready-to-go notes of juicy blackberries, fresh plums, and Bing cherries, leading to touches of lilacs and licorice. The medium-bodied palate has a great intensity of lively black fruits, with firm, grainy tannins and a long, savory finish.

Juicy, perfectly judged, delicious brambled fruits, this is exuberant without being overdone, just oozing with pleasure, inviting you to come on board. Expect waves of liqourice, powerful damson brambled jam, lime blossom, orange peel marmalade and saffron. This needs a good five more years in bottle before approaching, but you want this in your cellar. Founders Arnaud-Thunevin now in a 50% ownership with the Lefevre family from Sansonnet, 100% new oak, 49hl/ha yield.

Inside Bordeaux

The 2019 Valandraud, made from 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, is deep garnet-purple in color. Oak notes dominates on the nose to begin, giving way to a core of baked black cherries, dried mulberries, and boysenberry preserves, plus a suggestion of Chinese five spice. The full-bodied palate delivers decadent, mouth-coating black fruits with a firm, grainy texture and racy backbone, finishing long and layered. Allow it another 4-5 years in cellar and drink it over the next 20-years+.

The 2018 Valandraud has a deep garnet purple color. It opens with scents of tar and fertile loam, over a core of stewed cherries and plum preserves, plus waft of tobacco and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is firm and grainy with taut, muscular fruit and a savory finish. 

A success in a cooler vintage that is offering a real moment of pleasure right now. This is packed with juicy black fruits, layered and nuanced with liqourice and spiced plum, with a crayon and salted cracker finish that showcases the cool clay-limestone soils of Valandraud's vineyard site. This feels vivid and full of life, and as ever I'm a fan of Valandraud in years where nature puts the breaks of what is, as I described it when tasting in bottle years ago, 'Thunevin's irrepresible nod towards exuberance'. 100% new oak.

Expert

Dive in to this lovely Valandraud, textured and rippled with fleshy red fruits and limestone fingerprints, austere in all the right places, opulent where you want it to be. Great stuff, leans into the vintage and shows its joy. Jean-Luc Thunevin owner, 100% new oak for ageing.

The 2014 Valandraud is medium to deep garnet-brick in color. Notes of unsmoked cigars and smoked meats waft from the glass, followed by hints of black cherry compote and plum preserves with a touch of bay leaves. The medium-bodied palate has a firm backbone of rounded tannins and plenty of freshness to support the generous, mature fruit, finishing long and spicy.

The 2013 Valandraud is medium garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It sashays out with gregarious notions of plum pudding, raisin cake, and unsmoked cigars, followed by hints of iron ore, Indian spices, and licorice. Medium-bodied, the palate is laden with a good intensity of dried black fruits and exotic spices, framed by firm, chewy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing minerally.

The year that Valandraud was promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé B, going straight to the position from Grand Cru (the only other one to do so is Mondotte). This makes it a particularly special wine to be tasting at 12 years on, now that the firm tannic structure has begun to soften and melt into the black and red brambled fruit. You're always going to get a touch of sandalwood and espresso grilled notes in Valandraud, and an exuberant expansion through the palate, but at this point it is balanced by gentle cigar box, dried herbs, oyster shell and tobacco. Enjoyable. 100% new oak.

Amatør

Mye mer lysere bær, jordbær, mørke markjordbær og vanilje (veldig typisk 2010), men samtidig modent. Jordbær, bringebær, et elegant floralt preg på det. Et parfymerte preg av mørke og syrlige bær. Til å ha ligget 18-22 måneder på nye fat, syntes jeg ikke dette tar for mye overhånd. 

På smak får jeg mer mørkere bær. Konsentrasjonen er høy. Syren er pen, og fruktigheten er både nyansert og elegant. 
Fatpreget kommer mer frem, men fortsatt ikke påtrengende. 

Closed down on the nose, intense and concentrated, cocoa bean, loganberry, damson, cigar box, orange peel, gunsmoke, with a wall of grilled sandalwood and bitter chocolate. It's a wine that I have struggled to fully get on board with, and still for me needs longer to really open up. It has been called 'Rubanesque' and I can see why - I am a real fan of Valandraud in recent vintages, and although some tasters will disagree with me, in these years they were still pressing too hard on the pedal. 100% new oak for ageing.

Heavy oak toasting and tar on the oak, these were the time when Valandraud was in full flight of exuberance and extraction, before it took the foot off the pedal over the last five years. Spice and grilled cedar give plenty of impact, and are backed up by gourmet slabs of cocoa bean and smoked earth, but the ripe dark fruits are so concentrated that they lack juice, giving it more estate than vintage signature. Cleverly constructed, but lacks light and shade. 100% new oak, harvest October 1 to 5.

A difficult vintage generally in Bordeaux, but Valandraud was renowned at the time for performing better than most, and it is still going strong. Melted tannins, sweet salted caramel, mocha and torrified coffee beans that speaks of the 100% new oak, along with raspberry fruit, fine tannins, length and persistency. A great moment to drink this, and one of the surprise successes of the week's wines for me. Easy to recommend, great stuff from owner Jean-Luc Thunevin. Served blind.

2024	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2023	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2022	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2021	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2020	No priceNot available	Extraordinary

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Ch. Valandraud
Vintages	2006
Country	France, Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Bottle	75 cl

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Sugar	g/l

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