Wine Advocate May, 2011 A big time sleeper of the vintage, the dense purple-colored 2008 offers charcoal-infused blackberry and cassis fruit, sweet tannin, spicy oak and a full-bodied, concentrated, layered mouthfeel. Evolved and forward by Valandraud’s standards, it can be drunk now and over the next 15+ years. Bravo!

Tasted blind at the Valandraud vertical at the property, the 2008 Valandraud is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc matured in new oak for 24 months. It put in a quite brilliant performance (here paired against the 2008 Trotanoy). It has a boisterous, bravura of a nose with outstanding vigor and clarity: red cherries and boysenberry fruit, graphite and traces of wet limestone. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, beautiful pure black cherry and raspberry fruit with a faint touch of orange sorbet. Seamless in texture with a refined and silky smooth finish, this is drinking beautifully now but will clearly age for another two decades. This is outstanding for the vintage. Tasted December 2016.

Bright, saturated medium ruby. Black fruits, coffee bean and nutty oak on the nose. Sweet verging on confectionery but with sound acidity and solid minerality giving clarity and lift to the mid-palate. Finishes with some exotic woodsmoke notes and building tannins that remain quite fine. I find more minerality today in Jean-Luc Thunevin's Croix de Labrie but there's nothing heavy or thick about this seamless wine.

Deep ruby with inky highlights. Brooding aromas of blackberry, coffee and dark chocolate are nicely lifted by hints of spice and graphite. Enters the mouth ripe and creamy, then turns a little austere in the middle, with plum and blackberry flavors currently dominated by bright acidity. Finishes fairly long, with a lovely floral nuance. Based on this early showing, I find less quality difference between this flagship wine and its stablemates Trois de Valandraud and Virginie de Valandraud than usual.

Tasted blind. Juicy, fruity and quite an open wine with only the fine veil of tannin underneath to remind us it also has a future. (JR)