x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 301
  • Producer ranking ?

    30
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

The Story

In 1989, Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle Andraud became the proud owners of a small plot of land of 0,6 ha, in the valley of Saint Emilion, between Pavie Macquin and La Clotte. In 1991 they produced and bottled their first vintage. Since then, their estate portfolio has grown with properties in Saint Christophe des Bardes, Saint Sulpice de Faleyrens or Saint Etienne de Lisse.

In the early days, wine critics nicknamed their production « garage wine », but even as Château Valandraud had not –yet- entered the Saint Emilion classification, it was considered by most wine critics, including Robert Parker, as playing in Bordeaux major league.

In 2012, Château Valandraud has been promoted as a 1st classified growth of Saint Emilion.

In 2017, Château Valandraud became a full member of Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux.

 

Because garage wines do not often grow in the best possible land, the vineyards must work twice as hard as others to reach top quality. Valandraud's cultivations are scattered around Saint-Emilion, which means that the soils are significantly different. Winemaker Dalmasso says: –We have plenty of choice in the blending stage. Only 20–30 per cent of our wines go to Château Valandraud, and the rest to Virginie de Valandraud and 3 de Valandraud.

We work as ecologically as possible, but unfortunately, a hundred per cent organic operation is not a realistic alternative due to the climate. Harvest method: hand picked Winemaking: grapes are stemmed manually, then bursted in ahand-crusher. Fermentation in oak vasts. Malolactic fermentation in new oak barrels.

Surface: 8.88 hectares Soil : clayey limstone

Grape varieties 65 % Merlot, Cabernet Franc 25 %, Cabernet Sauvignon 5%, Malbec 4%, Carmenère 1%

Average age of the vines : 30 ans
Manual harvest, several sorting including Tribaie.technology

Vinification in thermo gerulated stainless steel , concrete and wooden tanks , Malolactic fermentation in barrels.

Ageing: 18 to 30 months in new barrels Production: 150 00 bottles
Blending may differ accordin to vintage

Close

Wine Information

Château de Valandraud

Château de Valandraud is a very famous ‘garage wine’ created by Jean-Luc Thunevin and his wife Murielle Andraud. Its first vintage was 1991.
Having become highly successful wine merchants in the Saint-Emilion area, their burning ambition was to own their own vineyard and make their own wine. Little by little, they bought up several parcels of vines. The name of the growth is both geographical (Val for Vale of Fongaban) and sentimental (Andraud being Murielle's name). That was how Château Valandraud came on being.

Their policy is therefore to look after the vines, some thirty years old, with the same meticulous care always keeping to the authentic nature of things. Valandraud's cellarmaster, Rémi Dalmasso, explains:
–Instead of adding something into the wine, we concentrate it. That is why minimal harvests and removing excess juice by the saignée method are more appropriate. On average, we remove 20 per cent of the juice before fermentation, and I once even tried removing 50 per cent for our Cabernet Franc! We also have a concentrator, which we like to use rather than chaptalise with sugar.
Alcohol content is a surprisingly important factor in garage wines. Robert Parker is known to like full and warming wines, which means that getting good points requires a high percentage. Dalmasso comments:
–For us, the optimum is 13.5 per cent, clearly above average. Funny as it may sound, but this is fierce competition – just like Formula One. And you need to play to win.
Because garage wines do not often grow in the best possible land, the vineyards must work twice as hard as others to reach top quality. Valandraud's cultivations are scattered around Saint-Emilion, which means that the soils are significantly different. Winemaker Dalmasso says:
–We have plenty of choice in the blending stage. Only 20–30 per cent of our wines go to Château Valandraud, and the rest to Virginie de Valandraud and 3 de Valandraud. We work as ecologically as possible, but unfortunately, a hundred per cent organic operation is not a realistic alternative due to the climate.

Harvest method: hand picked
Winemaking: grapes are stemmed manually, then bursted in ahand-crusher. Fermentation in oak vasts. Malolactic fermentation in new oak barrels

SARL des Etablissements Thunevin
6, rue Guadet
33330 Saint-Emilion, France
Tél. : (+33) 05 57 55 09 13
Fax : (+33) 05 57 55 09 12

www.thunevin.com

Parker: "Andraud is one of the most interesting stories in Bordeaux. The wine is made from an unheralded terroir owned by the young, obsessive/compulsive, exuberantly passionate Monsieur Thunevin. He produces a Bordeaux from tiny yields and ripe fruit, ages it in 100% new oak, and refuses to fine or filter prior to bottling. Sadly, Valandraud has become the darling of speculators, largely because of (1) its fabulous quality, and (2) its limited production. There were only 4,200 bottles produced in 1993, 8,998 in 1994, and 11,400 in 1995. It is easy to criticize the outrageous prices this wine fetches, but lunatic speculators aside, Valandraud symbolizes what can be done in Bordeaux when the limits of quality are pushed to the maximum, and the advice of most oenologists (who for nearly three decades have encouraged too much fining and filtering) is ignored. The only question I have concerning Valandraud is: will this wine, when fully mature, live up to its extraordinary promise? An opaque purple color, and a firm, closed set of aromatics (sweet blackcurrant, woodsy, smoky aromas emerge with airing) are revealed in this blockbuster 1994. The wine possesses fabulous purity, great flavor intensity, a sweet inner-core of fruit on the mid-palate, and a full-bodied, layered, viscous finish. It is unquestionably one of the finest wines of the vintage. Give it 5-7 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2020."
(Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Close

Vintage 1994

Bordeaux Vintage Report 1994 / After a mild winter, spring brought heavy rain and frost which significantly damaged the vineyards. After a stormy start to the summer, the weather calmed down and changed very favorably for the latter part of the vintage. The harvest took place in good conditions and the vintage ended moderately to even good. The wines are perfectly pleasant today.

Close

Tasting note

color

Full

ending

Long and Harsh

flavors

Vanilla, Cherry, Coffee, Cedar, Leather and Earthy

nose

Intense, Complex and Ripe

recommend

Yes

taste

Complex, Well-structured, Rich, Ripe, Full and Sweet tannins

Written Notes

Château Valandraud is the final achievement of hard work from a couple with a passion for wine, Jean-Luc Thunevin and his wife Murielle Andraud. Having become highly successful wine merchants in the Saint-Emilion area, their burning ambition was to own their own vineyard and make their own wine. Little by little, they bought up several parcels of vines. The name of the growth is both geographical (Val for Vale of Fongaban) and sentimental (Andraud being Murielle's name). That was how Château Valandraud came to be. Jean-Luc Thunevin decides the harvest date once the grapes have reached the optimal maturity. For the winemaking, he adopted Burgundy’s technique of punching off the cap in the fermenting vat (pigeage) and stirring the lies in the oak barrel, in order to get the maximum extraction from his wines. He does no (re?)fining or filtration, just racking barrel to barrel every three months. There were only 8,998 bottles produced in 1994.


Decanted three hours. The 1994 Valandraud was a skillful effort from this difficult vintage. A good, deep, and bright ruby colour. Excellent nose, sound and open with ripe black-cherry, vanilla and cedar aromas. Well balanced and complex on the palate with roasted coffee, chocolate, earth, and sweet tannin flavours all abundent, the intensity of fruit was preposterous. Still quite a hard and tough wine. The finish was long and leathery with a nice dryness and rich, earthy and new oakflavours. Needs time, consume this over next 10 to 15 years.

  • 93p

Tasted in August 2019. Rough edges, tannin is strong and acidity is strong as well. Some time is required here to soften the sharp corners and get this wine more admirable for the consumer.

  • 88p

Intense garnet red colour with almost black core. Very densely woven, liquorice, cigar box, berry jam. On the palate fine acidity, tannins well integrated, restrained fruit, liquorice in the finish. A massive style, however no great complexity. 

  • 90p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

St. Emilion, Bordeaux
Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register