Wine Advisor
Valandraud 2009
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
An inky/purple wine with an extraordinary nose of black raspberries, blueberries, acacia flowers, licorice and camphor, it is full-bodied, multi-dimensional and layered, with silky tannins, stunning purity, and a finish of 50+ seconds. This is an opulent, sexy, sumptuous style of wine to drink over the next 15 or more years. Kudos to Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle! One of the all-time great wines from Jean-Luc Thunevin and his partner Murielle Andraud, the 2009 Valandraud represents 13,000 bottles, with most of it coming from vineyard parcels near the sector of St.-Emilion known as St.-Christophe des Bardes.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Ets. Thunevin. Deep, limpid purple colour. It has a dense, ripe, opulent bouquet of black cherries, bilberry, black plum, honey and violets that spirals from the glass. The palate has a thick, chewy entry, huge weight in the mouth, but there is a counter-balancing citrus freshness, with fresh apricot and star fruit suffused into the pure red-berry fruit, a hint of liquorice curled like a snake around the finish. Very dense to the point of being impenetrable at the moment but at least there is no astringency on the finish and despite the opulence, the minerality comes through on the finish. Superb. Tasted March 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Bad boy Jean-Luc Thunevin has possibly produced the finest Valandraud since his debut vintage in 1992. A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and a tiny shot of Carmenere, the wine has an opaque purple color and a beautiful nose of spring flowers, creme de cassis, blueberry, charcoal, and a hint of espresso. A seamless, full-bodied mouthfeel, striking purity, a skyscraper-like texture, freshness, and precision make for the most complex and noble, as well as most concentrated and massive Valandraud to date. This wine should drink beautifully for 25 or more years. Kudos to St.-Emilion’s patron saint of garage wines. (Tasted two times.)
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the Valandraud vertical at the property, the 2009 Valandraud is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc matured in 100% new oak for 22 months. It has a more opulent, ravishing, Rubenesque bouquet than the outstanding 2008 Valandraud (as you would expect): layers of viscous black cherry and raspberry fruit, orange pith, over-ripe Satsumas and crushed violet. The palate is medium-bodied with sweet tannin and plenty of luscious ripe red and black fruit. The alcohol seems nicely contained with a slightly cloying blueberry and raspberry finish that leaves a tang of licorice on the aftertaste. Decadent but irresistible. Tasted December 2016.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. The Valandraud ‘09 has a charming, pure Merlot bouquet with luscious scents of kirsch, balsamic, touches of sage and glycerine. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins. It is utterly composed with seamless integrated oak and a harmonious finish that exudes finesse and charm. Stunning – although the Virginie runs its big brother damn close. Tasted January 2013.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(an 80/20 blend of merlot and cabernet franc; pH 3.5; 14% alcohol; 100 IPT) Glass-staining opaque purple-ruby. The nose initially shows heavy torrefaction notes of roasted coffee bean and cedar, but blackcurrant and spicy plum notes emerge slowly with aeration. Then smooth, ripe and light on its feet, with lively, nicely integrated acids framing and lifting the dense, fleshy, ripe red and black fruit flavors. The long finish features polished tannins and a much lighter touch than the nose suggests, and an almost Burgundian quality to its lingering perfume. This should evolve splendidly with bottle age and appears to be a great vintage for this wine.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2009 Valandraud has a ripe and opulent bouquet with precocious red fruit, fig and rose petals, a little warmth of alcohol blurring the edges and becoming more tarry with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent plush, saturated tannin. This is sleek and modern in style, heady and concentrated with a decadent finish. It conveys a sense of purity. The bottle tasted in 2017 showed a tad more precision on the finish. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Full ruby-red. Lively aromas of blackberry and licorice. Juicy, intense and sharply delineated, with black fruit, mineral and floral flavors spreading out to saturate the palate. Ripe acidity energizes and extends the flavors on the suavely tannic, very long finish. With 72 hours in the recorked bottle, this beauty remained fresh and firm.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Valandraud is truly strutting its stuff right now with a bold, flamboyant nose of Black Forest cake, molten licorice, blackberry preserves and baked plums plus touches of kirsch, candied violets, star anise, unsmoked cigars, incense and a compelling waft of smoked meats. Full-bodied, the palate is a pedal-to-the-metal, fruit-n-spice blockbuster with a full-on sexy texture of beautifully plush, rounded tannins and tons of freshness to lift the very long, very perfumed finish.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Stunning aromas of black truffles and blueberries, with Valrona milk chocolate undertones. Full body, with a wonderful core of fruit. This just dances on your palate. A wine that makes you smile. Superb. Best Valandraud ever? Try in 2002.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
There’s richness and decadence to this red with currant, chocolate and walnut. Full-bodied with linear tannins and a long, fresh finish. Racy, energetic and focused at the end. Drink or hold.
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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