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Valandraud 2015

St Emilion, Grand Cru

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Units Size Case size GBP Price: Quantities Buy
36 75cl Bottle Case 12 £1,000 per Case Cases [Add to shopping basket]
Tasting Notes

The 2015 Valandraud has long been one of my favourite vintages of Jean-Luc Thunévin, and six years on from my previous encounter, it remains a gorgeous wine. It is packed with black cherry and crushed strawberry fruit, still youthful, especially here, juxtaposed against its peers. Quite intense, but there is pedigree. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet, almost Napa-like entry that admittedly denudes it of some typicité—certainly not a "classic" style of Saint-Émilion. But the oak is seamlessly subsumed and there is a precision on the finish that cannot be denied. Superb. Just starting to drink now, but it will continue to deliver for many years.

Score: 97

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2022-2048 01 February 2025

The 2015 Valandraud is blessed with a stunning, brilliantly defined and focused bouquet, quite penetrating in style yet so young and primal. This is all about potential. The palate is supremely well balanced with perfectly assimilated oak, satin-like in texture with wonderful precision and length. About as good as it gets. Class, class, class. Jean-Luc hits the ball out of the park. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

Score: 98

Neal Martin, Vinous.com 01 January 2019

The 2015 Valandraud is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with a profound nose of baked cherries, warm black plums, blueberry preserves and smoked meats with tilled earth, mocha, Indian spices and dried herbs nuances plus a touch of licorice. The mouth is big, full-bodied and powerful with notable, velvety tannins and it is packed with savory and spice flavor layers, finishing with epic length. This big-boned, voluptuous, Rubenesque beauty will blow hedonists' minds! (96+)

Score: 96

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2021-2040 21 February 2018

Plenty of toasty oak and extract here. This has immensely concentrated fruits with powerful yet silky tannins. Blackberry and dark-plum aromas dominate the nose with hints of dark chocolate and candied orange. Flavors follow suit amid fluid, muscular tannins that hold long into the finish. Great wine. Try from 2023.

Score: 98

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 02 February 2018

A fabulous Valandraud with verve and distinction. So much bright blackberry, mineral and dark chocolate character. Full and ultra-silky textured. Powerful and balanced finish. A joy to taste. Purity. Greatest Valandraud ever. 85% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 5% cabernet sauvignon.

Score: 98 - 99

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 01 April 2016

A gorgeous, arrestingly beautiful wine, the 2015 Valandraud delivers on all the promise it showed as a barrel sample, and then some. Soft contours and layers of sumptuous fruit add to its considerable appeal. Readers will have to give the 2015 at least a few years to develop aromatic complexity. Today, the wine's off-the-charts intensity and opulence are attention-grabbing, to be sure, but the best is yet to come. This is a superb showing from Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle Andraud. The 2015 is 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, all fermented in barrel.

Score: 97

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2022-2040 01 February 2018

A wine that will be a candidate for perfection at maturity, the 2015 Valandraud is a heavenly wine that exhibits a deep, saturated ruby/purple color as well as a sensational bouquet of blackcurrants, cassis, crème caramel, graphite, and chocolate. This full-bodied, expansive, super concentrated 2015 is a hedonistic dream and has exceptional purity, balance, and equilibrium. While it offers pleasure today, it needs short-term cellaring and will keep for 20+ years.

Score: 99

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Maturity: 2022-2042 30 November 2017