One of the most successful wines of the vintage. Welcoming aromatics, carefully handled, creamy raspberry and blackberry fruits, gentle toasted pine nuts and cigar box smoke. You still get the lemongrass, slate tannins and acidites that are so signature to 2021, but also a sense of pull-and-push movement of the fleshy but fresh fruits through the palate, and hidden power. Good stuff. This is a vintage where you need the warm hug of a softly smoked oak barrel, and Thunevin knows how to administer it. 29hl/h yield, 3.5ph.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

Full-bodied with a silky yet very firm and broad tannin structure. Lots of ripe, cool blue-fruit and stone character. Red tea, too. Textured. Well balanced and focused for the vintage. Lovely length.
James Suckling, May 2022

The 2021 Valandraud is compelling. Bright acids give the 2021 terrific purity and cut. The style of the year is perhaps a bit unusual for Valandraud, which tends to be an opulent wine, but there is a ton of potential. Aeration brings out the wine's natural texture and breadth. Wild dark cherry, mocha, spice, new leather and licorice all build nicely. In most vintages, Valandraud offers tons of near-term appeal. The 2021, on the other hand, is a long distance runner.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

Opening in the glass with inviting aromas of dark berries, baking chocolate, exotic spices and vanilla pod, the 2021 Valandraud is a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy wine that's seamless and layered, exhibiting impressive concentration, beautifully ripe tannins and a long, succulent finish. Bursting with fruit, this is an especially elegant Valandraud, with below-average alcohol at 13.5%, but it doesn't lack for anything. Tasted four times, twice at the château.
William Kelley, April 2022

The 2021 Valandraud was picked October 3–15 and matured for a planned 18–24 months entirely in new oak. Again, this has quite an intense bouquet of perfumed blackberry, briar and mineral scents, the latter distinguishing it from the Virginie. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe, supple tannins that frame the pure, lightly spiced red berry fruit. More linear than previous vintages, yet fresh, this is well-defined toward the finish, where a pleasant spiciness carries over on the aftertaste. Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Valandraud offers up aromas of minty berries framed by a generous application of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, with a creamy attack that segues into a mid-palate built around chalky barrel tannins, it concludes with a vanillin-inflected and discreetly herbal finish. This showed more harmoniously en primeur than in bottle.

Less punchy and plush than usual. Red-berry aroma and flavour. Clean, concise with drive on the finish. Plenty of freshness. Well put together but a toned-down version of the usual wine. (JL)
Drink 2027 – 2040
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022