2015 Château Valandraud
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Valandraud has long been one of my favourite vintages of Jean-Luc Thunévin, and six years on from my previous encounter, it remains a gorgeous wine. It is packed with black cherry and crushed strawberry fruit, still youthful, especially here, juxtaposed against its peers. Quite intense, but there is pedigree. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet, almost Napa-like entry that admittedly denudes it of some typicité —certainly not a "classic" style of Saint-Émilion. But the oak is seamlessly subsumed and there is a precision on the finish that cannot be denied. Superb. Just starting to drink now, but it will continue to deliver for many years.
Critic scores
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
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 2015 Valandraud is blessed with a stunning, brilliantly defined and focused bouquet, quite penetrating in style yet so young and primal. This is all about potential. The palate is supremely well balanced with perfectly assimilated oak, satin-like in texture with wonderful precision and length. About as good as it gets. Class, class, class. Jean-Luc hits the ball out of the park. (NM)
Tasted blind. Very dark blueish crimson. Fresh and zesty. Real energy and wild flowers here. Thick and sweet. Lifted and really interesting and energetic. Long and intriguing. (JR)
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.