This wine, conceived in a period when this property was not as well-known as it is today, is strutting its stuff. Proprietors Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle Andraud should be pleased. The color is a healthy dense plum/ruby. Aromas of sweet licorice, black currants and tobacco leaf are followed by a full-bodied, opulent wine without a trace of oxidation or fatigue. This beauty is a true success for a 2003 Right Bank offering. Drink it over the next 10-15 years.
(WA#214, Aug 2014)


The home property of Jean-Luc Thunevin, the inspirational spirit for Bordeaux’s garagiste movement, is Valandraud. The 2003 is a full-bodied, powerful St.-Emilion offering up notes of espresso roast, chocolate, sweet currants and cherries, and hints of minerals as well as cedar. Expressive and pure, with copious tannins lurking behind the cascade of fruit and glycerin, this wine requires 2-4 years of bottle age, and should drink well for two decades or more.
(WA#164, Apr 2006)

The first Saint Emilion that shows real, bona fide quality. A tempered nose of raspberry, redcurrants, damsons and a touch of fennel. A very elegant nose, plump and with great delineation. Very focused with good weight, this is a wine that has brushed aside the limitations of the 2003 growing season to produce a seamless, delectable wine in a “traditional” style (written blissfully ignorant of its identity!) Wonderful. Drinking 2008-2018. Tasted January 2007

Full medium ruby. Explosive aromas of berry liqueur, minerals and violet; quite precise for 2003. Rich, sweet, dense and thick, with terrific concentration and lift. Almost too big for the mouth, and yet this offers a light touch considering its superb richness. Flavors of dark berries, licorice and violet pastille. Finishes with very fine tannins and excellent precision and verve. A great showing; at 15% alcohol, this wine could stand up to today's monsters from Napa Valley.

Very deep crimson. Brule mulberry notes on the nose. Warm and sweet but remarkably gentle on the palate. Lively edge of leafy Cabernet notes – another wine saved by is Cabernet Franc content (60 per cent in this case). Chewy, fine and absolutely no shortage of acidity. Jean-Luc Thunevin says he picked this in October, the latest of all in St-Emilion, with a yield of 28 hl/ha (more than in 2002). This wine is 15% alcohol but you would not know it on the palate. No heat on the finish. A very good Valandraud (JR)