2016 Château Valandraud

Community Tasting Notes (25) Avg Score: 94.8 points

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  2/8/2024 - AdinG Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Fantastic representation of right bank wines

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  11/27/2023 - mwneil Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Day 2 of bottle, we finished the last 1/3 of the bottle, sediment, good bouquet, very dark color, same great flavors, probably decant the next bottle due to sediment.

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  11/25/2023 - mwneil Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Bought at Thunevin tasting room in St Emilion, dark color, great fragrant bouquet, agree with csimm’s comments, balanced, smooth tannins, medium to full body but drank effortlessly, lots of flavors adds complexity, a big wine 14.5% abv but drinks easily with a weightlessness that is quite enjoyable, we only drank 2/3 of the bottle since we started with a 1/2 bottle of Bollinger champagne, will see how the last 1/3 of the bottle drinks tonight, have another bottle so will drink again. I have been a having fun with the other Thunevin wines, Virginie, 3 de Valandraud and Clos Badon.

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  11/24/2023 - csimm wrote:

  Valandraud, St. Emilion: I had much to gush about with this 2016 back when I had it in April. My notes still ring true for the most part, but this bottle was a bit more reserved. Clearly, 2016 is a solid vintage for Valandraud (along with much of the rest of the Right Bank). Dark fruits and some nicely injected oak make for a slightly modern rendition; one with an uptick in power and intensity (but again, this bottle was comparatively coy to the bottle I had earlier in the year). Best to hold for a few years.

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  4/17/2023 - csimm wrote: 96 Points

  With a makeup of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon (per Valandraud's spec sheets. Note, however, that I've seen other erroneous "pro" reports that list the CF as high as 15% and the CS at 5%, which appears to be incorrect), the 2016 Valandraud has instant appeal. It is deep and broad, with an unctuous but weightless viscosity that I can't help but fall in love with. It stops short of being too chewy, but the texture creates a satiating mouthfeel that I often don't experience east of the Atlantic. Purple and black-fruited, with an inky, staining profile that saturates the mid-palate with ripe fruit while also invigorating on the back end with perfectly balanced acidity, finishing with a well-defined grip of rock and dark earth at the tail. Medium-to-full bodied without ever being "medium."
  
  I know the adjectival accolades may make some far-right traditionalists nervous, as though I am delicately dancing around a modern rendition of Bordeaux skirting Napa-esque fruit ripeness. Allow me to ease your troubles... to some extent. So, if you want tart red currant and sour red cranberry, best find some young 2021 Left Bank and drink it now (or some random Cabernet Franc out of Finger Lakes... or Cleveland).
  
  For Right Bank aficionados that are tired of titillatingly filling their e-cart with the Angelus-es (Angelui?), Chevel Blancs, and Ausones of the world, only to fail to find the courage to hit the "Purchase" button, the Valandraud is at a super-attractive price-point where you won't find yourself selling repurposed diapers on the corner just to make ends meet. It may not cater to whatever case of curio-strange the ultra-elite wine celebrity may be looking for on any given day, but it is just simply a grubbin' wine with the requisite complexity to keep you coming back for another sip. This 2016 is in a great place for my palate. Yeah I know, wait 3-5 more years for "prime time," whatever that means exactly, but... I'll pop these things now with zero regrets. Let it open up in the glass and serve at cellar temperature and see what I'm talking about. Cool, classy, and luxuriant all at the same time. I'm into it.

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