Descripción

Jean-Luc Thunevin firma este vino que aspira a convertirse en un mito dentro de la liga de grandes tintos de Saint-Émilion. Con él podremos disfrutar de una versión poderosa del clásico coupage bordelés, dominado en este caso por su uva reina: la Merlot. Merece la pena tener paciencia y esperar para comprobar su evolución en botella.

Ficha técnica

La bodega
Château Valandraud
Tipo
Tinto
Añada
2020
Grado
15.0% vol.
Producción
40.000 botellas
Variedad
90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet franc, 3% Cabernet sauvignon
Origen
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Cata

Temperatura de servicio
Se recomienda servir a 16 ºC.
Consumo
Hasta 2046 si se conserva en óptimas condiciones.

Viñedo y elaboración

Superficie
7 hectáreas.
Edad
30 años de media.
Suelo
Arcillo-calcáreo.
Clima
El comienzo templado del año provocó que la brotación comenzará unas dos semanas antes de lo habitual. La floración se produjo a finales de mayo en condiciones cálidas y secas. A partir de mediados de junio hubo un periodo de sequía de casi dos meses en toda la región de Burdeos. La primera quincena de septiembre fue seca y soleada, lo que aceleró la maduración antes de la vendimia.
Cosecha
La vendimia manual tuvo lugar del 17 de septiembre al 1 de octubre.
Envejecimiento
Crianza de 24 meses en barrica de roble nueva.

Opinión de los críticos

James Suckling:

Very opulent and expressive aromas of black fruit and pine needles. So floral. Full-bodied with plush, velvety tannins and lots of fruit and texture. It goes on for minutes. Rich at the finish, but remains fresh and vivid. Superb. One of the great Valandrauds. Drink after 2027.

Jeb Dunnuck:

One of the wines of the vintage is Jean-Luc Thunevin's 2020 Château Valandraud, which comes from the cooler, eastern side of Saint-Emilion. Exhibiting a dense purple hue as well as an incredible perfume of crème de cassis, ripe black cherries, violets, new leather, and an almost Hermitage-like burning embers character, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, ripe, seamless tannins, remarkable purity of fruit, and a finish that won't quit. A blend of 85% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, it's clearly in the same league as the 2019, if not slightly more concentrated. Give bottles 5-7 years in the cellar, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 20-25 years or so.

Decanter:

This is excellent, broad-shouldered with ample depth to the brambled fruits, liquorice, cigar box spice, with a gorgeously saline finish. Chalky, grippy tannins keep tugging you back into the body of the wine. The tannic grip is helped by a linen rather than silk texture that stops things being overly smooth and instead adds depth and interest to the powerfully knitted body, as do white flowers on the aromatics as it opens. Good stuff. 100% new oak for 24 months. A yield of 49hl/ha. Thunevin has sold a 50% stake in Valandraud to the Lefevre family at Sansonnet (also the new owners of Villemaurine, so a busy year for them). Drinking Window 2029 - 2046

The Wine Advocate:

If the 2019 vintage at this address was something of a guilty pleasure, the 2020 Valandraud is simply guilty as charged. Exhibiting aromas of jammy black fruits mingled with toasted coconut, spices and caricatural slatherings of new oak, it's full-bodied, rich and chewy, with generously extracted tannins that clamp down on the finish. All that oak and extract impedes access to the wine's generous fruit, rendering it less demonstrative and gourmand than its 2019 counterpart, and that's a pity, as recent vintages of Valandraud have been among the more successful of the few remaining hold-out "garagiste" wines of the Right Bank.