2019Château Valandraud(Red)
Saint Emilion
- Saint Emilion Premier Gr Cru Classe B
Alcohol
15,0 %
Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé B
After a career of 12
years as a bank employee, a grocer and a restaurant owner in St. Emilion,
Jean-Luc Thunevin ended as a négociant-trader in wines. He now has thrown
himself in the adventure of Ch. Valandraud. In 1989 he decided to make his own
wine together with his wife Murielle. They found a terroir on the hill of
Fongaban (the name Valandraud comes from ‘Vallon’ and ‘Andraud’, the name of
his wife). In 1990 there was no chai, so he brought the fruits to the cooperative.
In 1991 they made wine in a studio of their house, they called it ‘the garage’,
it was an old vinification cellar of the Bécot family. This is how the term
‘garage wine’ was born, because the cellar was closed off as a garage. Because
Thunevin did not have a lot of means (he had no destemming machine), the
berries were picked by hand, which was already a good means of selection. Bad
berries were removed. He did not have any pumps either, he had to put the
berries in the cuvees all by hand. Out of necessity, the principle of the
gravity already became a fact. Finally, he did not have big cuvees and he was
forced to have the malolactic fermentation take place in small barrels, a
system that is getting popular nowadays. All these accidental factors
contribute to a beautiful wine which was very well rated by the press. Although
the terroir was unknown until then, it is now classified Premier Grand Cru
Classé in the new ranking of 2012.
- Art nr.:
- wn1025513
- Conservation:
- 25 year
- Ready to drink:
- 2025
- Package:
- Wooden crate
- Quantity per package:
- 6
- Grapes:
- Merlot 90%, Cabernet Franc 7%, Cabernet Sauvignon 3%