Château Valandraud 2025

A new take on Valandraud this year after Jean-Luc Thunevin sold his majority stake to Christophe et Marie Lefévère (Château Sansonnet, Château Moulin du Cadet, Château Villemaurine). With Grégory Leymarie now managing director he said this is the perfect vintage to tell a new story with a new vision and a reduction in production by 20-25%. Gorgeous heady scents on the nose, ripe blackcurrant, cherries and strawberries. Chalky, velvety, ripe but not overly so, you have that intensity and concentration of fruit – but there’s such finesse. Elegance is here in spades, this is soft and approachable already. A juicy, clean and crystalline core with a soft salty, oyster shell mineral bite. I love this for its calmness, roundness and general softness. You still have the signature fruit aspect – the spiced aromatics and the clean blackcurrant, plum and black cherry fruit – the signature of the estate is still recognisable but with a lot more delicacy. Ageing 100% new oak. 3.48pH, 4g total acidity.

Licorice, smoke, black cherries, flowers, blackberries, plums, licorice, chocolate, and espresso are already quite expressive on the nose. The palate is even better, with its vivid display of perfectly ripe black cherries, plums, spice, espresso, mocha, and dark chocolate. Intense and concentrated, opulent, deep, and long, the fruit stains your palate, teeth, and gums, yet the wine remains vibrant. Velvety in texture, the finish is nearly seamless. Give it just a few years in bottle, and it will be thoroughly enjoyable over the next 2–3 decades. Drink from 2030–2060. 97–99 Pts

As ever with Valandraud, this has impressive depths and concentration. Inky colour, sea spray aromatics, high sandalwood oak on the nose that it is completely eaten up on the palate, roasted coffee, dark chocolate, powerful iris and violets, estate signature, with breadth and depth of flavour. 90% new oak, plus 10% new oak casks. Marie and Jean-Christophe Lefévère (of Sansonnet) now are the official owners of Valandraud, as of this vintage. This is a great wine and a clear potential upscore in bottle. 3.5ph, 20% less than usual in terms of plot selection, 36hl/h yield.

Nuances of very ripe dark berries mingle with aromas of caramel, licorice, and dark chocolate, with refreshing hints of lemongrass and verbena in the background. Supple and dense on the attack, the wine shines with its energy and its astonishing ability to harness acidity, which comes to support silky, velvety tannins. Thank you, terroir! A wine worthy of a shot-putter capable of running a marathon!

Deep, dark color. An intense nose of ripe fruit, gaining depth with a swirl of the glass. Delicate on the attack, aromatically unrivaled on the mid-palate, with a fine, silky richness that coats the palate, the wine develops into something juicy, noble and powerful, carried by one of the most nuanced tannin textures ever seen in this estate. Great, savory power. Blend: 84% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon. Alcohol: 14% - pH: 3.5. Aging: 90% in new barrels and 10% in large wooden vats for 20 months. For your information, Jean-Luc and Murielle Thunevin have just sold Valandraud to their partners, Christophe and Marie Lefévère. The latter brings a new dimension to the understanding of this estate’s potential by setting its tannic structure differently.

What a nose—far less marked by oaky spice than in previous years, deep and layered: blackberries, cherries, blackcurrant, dried mint, floral notes. The palate shows an unprecedented juiciness, naturally concentrated, with power yet without overpowering barrel aromas; sensational tannins with a chalky imprint. Cool, red-fruited finish. Stunning. This vintage ushers in a new chapter at Valandraud.