2023 Valandraud
Buying options
Tasting notes
Typically lavish in style, the 2023 Valandraud is laden with sweet, plummy red fruit, lush blueberries and a smoky intensity. Despite its generosity, the palate is pure and well-weighted, with lovely depth to the core of dark fruit. The tannins are chewy, complemented by crystallised violet florals and crunchy black cherry. Long and lingering with surprising elegance, the 15% alcohol is well integrated and the 3.5pH speaks to the terroir of this Premier Grand Cru Classé B estate. Intense yet not overpowering with impressive precision. Aged in 100% new oak. Blend: 84% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
More reviews and scores
With roughly 2,800 cases produced, the 2023 Château Valandraud is based on 85% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and was aged 20 months in 100% new French oak. This beautiful, layered, seamless effort from Thunevin can easily be put up with the crème de la crème of the vintage and it offers classic cassis, liquid violets, graphite, and chocolate-driven aromatics. Concentrated and full-bodied on the palate, it has a pure, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. It needs air to show at its best and is a gorgeous effort that will gain volume over the coming 3-5 years and keep for 25-30 years. Drink 2028-2053.
The 2023 Valandraud is such an elegant wine. Soft, supple contours envelop a core of dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, new leather and licorice. Readers will find an incredibly finessed Valandraud—a wine that is more finesse than power. I can’t wait to see how it ages.
The 2023 Valandraud is matured entirely in new oak with no sulfites added during the aging, using CO2 to protect the wine instead. This has a little more refinement on the nose than the Virginie de Valandraud, impressive precision and it deftly soaks up the new oak compared to its peers (as it often does). The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, the 8% Cabernet Sauvignon imparting marine-like notes toward the finish. Good backbone, just a bit heady in the final stretches.
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.