Wine Advisor
Valandraud 2008
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A big time sleeper of the vintage, the dense purple-colored 2008 offers charcoal-infused blackberry and cassis fruit, sweet tannin, spicy oak and a full-bodied, concentrated, layered mouthfeel. Evolved and forward by Valandraud’s standards, it can be drunk now and over the next 15+ years. Bravo!
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted ex-chateau and single blind in Southwold. Jean-Luc Thunevin has a very lifted, fresh, almost airy bouquet that wafts from the glass with abandon. Red fruit profile rather than black with well integrated vanillary oak. The palate is medium-bodied with silky smooth tannins. Ripe and ravishing on the svelte finish that is more winemaking than terroir coming through...but it is delicious in a New World way. Tasted January 2012.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the Valandraud vertical at the property, the 2008 Valandraud is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc matured in new oak for 24 months. It put in a quite brilliant performance (here paired against the 2008 Trotanoy). It has a boisterous, bravura of a nose with outstanding vigor and clarity: red cherries and boysenberry fruit, graphite and traces of wet limestone. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, beautiful pure black cherry and raspberry fruit with a faint touch of orange sorbet. Seamless in texture with a refined and silky smooth finish, this is drinking beautifully now but will clearly age for another two decades. This is outstanding for the vintage. Tasted December 2016.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2008 Valandraud’s dense ruby/purple hue is followed by beautiful aromas of charcoal, toasty oak, blackberries, and cassis. It is a full-bodied effort displaying powerful, dense, ripe, velvety tannins, a textured mouthfeel, and a backward but promising personality. This 2008 should evolve for twenty years or more.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Deep ruby with inky highlights. Brooding aromas of blackberry, coffee and dark chocolate are nicely lifted by hints of spice and graphite. Enters the mouth ripe and creamy, then turns a little austere in the middle, with plum and blackberry flavors currently dominated by bright acidity. Finishes fairly long, with a lovely floral nuance. Based on this early showing, I find less quality difference between this flagship wine and its stablemates Trois de Valandraud and Virginie de Valandraud than usual.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2008 Valandraud has a generous nose that is ripe, more animally and savory than its peers, touches of fennel developing and almost garrigues in style. The palate is sweet and candied on the entry with high-toned, iodine-tinged red fruit lavished in new wood. There is a fine line of acidity but it feels a little hard and short towards the pencil lead finish, possibly from the Cabernet Franc contribution. It took time to come around in the glass but it does open with flourish, so decanting is advisable. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 10-Year On tasting.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright, saturated medium ruby. Black fruits, coffee bean and nutty oak on the nose. Sweet verging on confectionery but with sound acidity and solid minerality giving clarity and lift to the mid-palate. Finishes with some exotic woodsmoke notes and building tannins that remain quite fine. I find more minerality today in Jean-Luc Thunevin's Croix de Labrie but there's nothing heavy or thick about this seamless wine.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
What a nose of crushed currants and blackberries. Full body, with fine and well integrated tannins and a fruity, minerally aftertaste. Balanced and refined. Give it time to open. Best after 2013.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This is very focused and precise with chocolate and berry character and juicy fruit. Pure plum and berries on the palate with beautifully integrated tannins. Long finish. Give it until at least 2014.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This is very focused and precise with chocolate and berry character and juicy fruit. Pure plum and berries on the palate with beautifully integrated tannins. Long finish. Give it until at least 2014.
About the Producer
Chateau Valandraud is located in the Saint-Emilion appellation on the right bank of Bordeaux, France. It is a famous pioneer winery of Garage Wine in Bordeaux. One of the most expensive wines in the Loh region. The achievements of Château Valenzo are inseparable from a wine-passionate couple, Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle Andraud. This well-known couple in the wine world started out selling wine in the Saint-Emilion region. After their business success, they decided to open up a vineyard of their own and make their own wine. So, in 1989, the couple bought a 0.6-hectare vineyard near Chateau Pavie Macquin and Chateau La Clotte in Saint-Emilion. The winery is named after the place name Vallon de Fongaban and the family name of the hostess Andro. In this way, Valanzo Winery was born. After that, Jean-Luc Touven and Muriel Andrew successively bought several other small vineyards. Today, the winery has 8.88 hectares of vineyards. In 1991, Château Valenzo released its first vintage. And just five years later, the 1995 Château Valandraud (Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe, France) was awarded 95 points by Robert Parker, the "Wine Emperor". Since then, its value has soared, becoming one of the most expensive wines in Saint-Emilion. In 2012, Valenzo Winery was ranked Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe B in the latest Saint-Emilion classification results with its outstanding performance. The winery also joined the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux in 2017. Jean-Luc Tournevin was called "Bordeaux's Black Sheep" by Robert Parker, also known as "Saint-Emilion's Bad Boy". However, these seemingly derogatory titles are an affirmation of his pioneering innovation in winemaking. He created a new style of red Bordeaux wine by further compressing the grape yield, delaying the harvest time, increasing the extraction time and using new oak barrels for long aging. And it is this kind of Varanzo that makes the famous wine critic Michel Bettane give the highest evaluation of "love at first sight". The vineyards of Valenzo Winery have a superior terroir. The soil types in the garden are mainly limestone and clay. The red grape planting includes 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec and 1% Carmenere, white grapes are mainly Sauvignon Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Three varieties. To this day, the winery has always adhered to the high requirements for the quality of grapes, and manually screened the wine grapes with extremely strict standards. In terms of brewing, the winery has achieved a combination of tradition and modern technology. Grapes are harvested by hand when they reach their peak ripeness and undergo a first screening in the vineyard, followed by an extremely rigorous secondary screening in the winemaking workshop. The selected grapes undergo alcoholic fermentation in different vessels (stainless steel tanks, concrete tanks and oak barrels), followed by a three-week maceration, during which the skins are manually pressed to fully extract the color, tannins and flavor substances. The wine is then placed in oak barrels for Malolactic Fermentation. Next, the wine will be matured for 18-30 months in 100% new French oak barrels. The winery spends huge sums of money to replace expensive new oak barrels every year. Finally, the wine is bottled without filtration and clarification. Valenzo Winery's authentic wine-Valanzo Winery's red wine is gorgeous in style, rich in aroma, silky tannins, fruity and fresh, rich and complex on the palate, rich in black berries and spices in oak barrels The taste adds a charming roasted aroma and has excellent ageing potential. In addition, the winery also produces a second-brand wine - Virginie de Valandraud, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France, and a third-brand wine - Château Valenzo No. 3 Dry red wines (3 de Valandraud, Saint-Emilion, France) and 2 very good white wines.
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