Château VALANDRAUD 2022

Description

Jean-Marc Quarin 98 points www.quarin.com
Couleur noire. Nez très aromatique, fruité, mûr, subtil et légèrement fumé. Bouche tout en distinction tannique, juteuse, savoureuse, parfumée, avec de la classe dans le toucher et une dimension aérienne inédite. Tout fond, précis, gras, savoureux et incrachable. C’est superbe ! Assemblage : 88 % merlot, 6 % cabernet franc, 6 % cabernet sauvignon. Degré d’alcool : 15°3 – pH : 3,55.

Neal Martin 95-97 www.vinous.com
The 2022 Valandraud was picked from 15 September to 5 October and matured in 100% new oak. It has a pure and very opulent bouquet with ravishing black cherries and crème de cassis scents, a touch of pressed violets and dates. The palate is medium-bodied and hides the 15.5% alcohol beneath its velvety texture. Plush red fruit, sweet and candied but with counterbalancing spiciness and structure on the finish. This is a Valandraud with a V12 engine. It will need several years in bottle. It manages to maintain balance and purity, thankfully not imposing or fatiguing unlike some others. Jean-Luc Thunevin has crafted an excellent Saint-Émilion here.

Antonio Galloni 96-98 points www.vinous.com
The 2022 Valandraud is magnificent. Rich and sumptuous to the core, the 2022 offers up inky red/purplish fruit, blood orange, spice, mocha and espresso, with nearly seamless texture and fabulous balance. Bright acids and beams of tannin lend shape and energy. Jean-Luc Thunevin and Muriel Andraud crafted a wine that captures the textural opulence that first turned heads here, but with an added kick of energy that reflects a more contemporary approach and also the style of the year. There is absolutely no sign of the 100% new oak, always a good measure of balance. I imagine this full throttle Saint-Émilion will need a number of years to shed some of its considerable baby fat. The 2022 showed beautifully at Thunevin, but showed even better in a large comparative tasting. Yields were a very generous 50 hectoliters per hectare, very much on the high side here. Jean-Luc Thunevin adds that he may opt for slightly shorter élevage in barrel than the norm of around 18 months.

Yves Beck 96-98 points www.yvesbeck.wine

8% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon

Une fois encore, Valandraud brille de son éclat, de cette symbiose entre le calcaire et la générosité du Merlot. Une fois encore, ce vin aura ses détracteurs et, surtout, ses admirateurs. Et une fois encore Valandraud, reste Valandraud. Ça c’est le point le plus crucial car il s’agit de répondre à ceux qui nous aiment ! Invitant et charmant, le vin cumule générosité, opulence, densité et tempérament. Il doit ce dernier point au calcaire, à la fraîcheur de ses terroirs et à ceux qui ont su l’interpréter et l’écouter. Un vin tellement séduisant, gourmand, ample et dense. La profondeur conjuguée à du charme, de la tension et de la profondeur… Valandraud est maître en la matière !  2028-2042  

Georgina Hindle 96 points  www.decanter.com (at UGCB tasting, Bordeaux Intercontinental Hotel, 21 Apr 2023)
Smells intensely perfumed and fragrant on the nose. Keeps much more of a linear, tense and focussed palate, with tangy fruit that has both sharp and crystalline aspects as well as toasted spice, liquorice and clove giving some savoury aspects. Appealing detail and precision, you can feel each of the fine tannins and the fruit has clarity as well as concentration. Intense, texture and structure are great and this has good persistence. Feels young of course and a bit compact but there’s lots to like with layers of flavour and a long finish. Wears its 15.5% alcohol well with freshness and cool, minty, wet stone touches on the finish. A stallion! Harvest 15 September – 5 October. Ageing 18-24 months in 100% new oak. 3.55pH.