2022 Valandraud
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Tasting notes
With a deep, rim-staining purple colour, this rich Saint-Emilion entices with blackberry, blueberry and violet tones. The palate is beautifully plush, bursting with juicy fruit and mid-palate weight, complemented by hints of dark chocolate and floral which further complexity. But there’s also structure here – and despite its opulence, it has lovely balance, with freshness that is doubtless thanks to the clay-limestone soils that allowed for a less stressful growing season for the vines here. The rounded, integrated tannins bring structural complexity, building to a crescendo, with a long finish of pure fruit. A wine of incredible balance, it’s another beautiful offering from Valandraud. Blend: 88% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc. Aged 18 to 22 months in 100% new oak.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2022 Valandraud is quite oaky on the nose, more than its peers, though there is sufficient fruit behind it. Clearly, these aromatics will need time to knit together, quite gourmand and savoury. It's actually not dissimilar to Tertre-Rôteboeuf! The palate is medium-bodied with succulent, ripe tannins, a tad more New World in style, flashy and very sweet towards the finish. Bottle age will temper that ostentatious veneer, as per usual! Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
A blend of 85% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, vinified and aged 22 months in new barrels, the 2022 Château Valandraud is another heavenly wine and was pure perfection on this occasion. Like the 2020, only lighter on its feet, it's full-bodied, deep, rich, and massive, with good acidity, ripe tannins, and huge richness but no weight. It's just awesome any way you look at it and it matches the otherworldly 2010 and 2020. This is just another incredible effort from the incredible Jean-Luc Thunevin. Drink bottles any time over the coming 30 years or more. Drink 2026-2056.
A rich, glossy Valandraud delivered in a plush but polished mode. Showing lots of new wood, cocoa nibs, mocha, espresso and pine cones to the dense blackberries and a touch of roasted red peppers. Full with immense concentration, this has compact fruit and bold, dusty tannins. You hardly catch the high alcohol here with such intensity. Balanced at a high pitch. Big, voluptuous but beautiful too. 36,200 bottles made. Give it three more years to let the wood spices integrate. Drink from 2028.
About the producer
One of the first garage wines, Ch. Valandraud was created by Jean-Luc Thunevin – Saint-Emilion’s “bad boy”. Today the style of the wine is much more restrained, and officially classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé B estate.