Chateau Valandraud 2024

JAMES SUCKLING: "This shows smoky black cherries, damson plums, pine and violets. Bright and acid-driven with almost full body, fresh, polished tannins and a long, mouthwatering finish. A fuller and more concentrated expression for the vintage."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "Deep garnet-purple colored. Needs a little coaxing before it bursts with bold notes of black raspberries, wild blueberries, and cedar, followed by hints of sassafras, dusty soil, rose oil, and pipe tobacco. The medium-bodied palate is taut with black and red berry layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and perfumed."

JEB DUNNUCK: "Based on 85% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Cabernet Franc, the 2024 Château Valandraud is aging in 100% new oak and checks in at 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.5. It offers terrific depth and richness, with a deep color and focused cassis, dark berries, spicy oak, and graphite aromas. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it's beautifully textured, with fine tannins, impressive mid-palate density, and a seamless finish. You can safely put this up with anything in the vintage."

WEINWISSER: "85 % Merlot, 9 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 % Cabernet Franc, Alkohol 13.5 vol%, pH 3.5, 40 hl/ha. Dicht verwobenes Bouquet, frisch gepflückte schwarze Johannisbeere, verführerischer Flieder- und Irisduft. Im zweiten Ansatz Johannisbeernektar und parfümierter Pfeifentabak. Am sublimen Gaumen mit seidiger Textur, herrlicher Extraktfülle, balancierter Rasse und trainiertem Körper. Im konzentrierten, energiegeladenen Finale Heidelbeerdrops, tiefschürfende Extraktfülle, edle Salznote und körnige Adstringenz."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Chocolate-covered black raspberries, flowers, espresso, mocha, and black cherries present themselves prominently in the perfume. On the palate, the wine is fresh, creamy, supple, forward, and rounded. The fruits fill the palate, lingering with their sweetness, plushness, and a strong sense of minerality. Give it just a few years of bottle age, and it will be quite enjoyable. The wine blends 85% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Cabernet Franc. 13.5% ABV. Harvesting took place September 26 - October 7. Drink from 2029-2045."

ANSON: "There are very few wines in this vintage where you see these grilled, smoky aromatics that are backed up by fruit, but Valandraud delivers, and here you feel that owner Jean-Luc Thunevin stepped in and said, keep going, I want a Valandraud that I recognise. There is still acidity, but it is shaped into austerity and sapidity, with slate tannins, good quality plum and damson fruits. Estate signature, with ageing ability. Harvest 26 September to 7 October, 3.5pH. 100% new oak. Jean-Philippe Fort and Alexandre Béra from Rolland Consultants. Less leaning in to the vintage than railing against it, and there is clear oak here - but it works."

VINUM: "Sehr dichte Farbe; deutlich vom Ausbau geprägt, Rauch, schwarze Schokolade, Süssholz über Brombeeren, Cassis und Pflaumen; am Gaumen strukturiert, auch hier mit merklich Holz, die Frucht aktuell im Hintergrund, feinkörnige Gerbstoffe, stimmige Säure; im Abgang von guter Länge und mit rotfruchtigem Finish."

DECANTER: "Silky smooth and full of flesh and juicines. This is really quite arresting from the first sip. Vibrant and energetic with a lick of sweet strawberry, sour cranberry and creamy raspberry giving layers of different textures in the mouth. Clean - you definitely get the mineral backbone - slate, graphite and wet stones with mint and aniseed. Long length, it’s very upfront, not so finessed I wouldn't say but it doesn't taste like a 2024. This is high octane stuff. Intense all the way through. Very Valandraud style but with low alcohol and low ph. 3.50pH. 18-22 months 100% new oak."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, sehr zarte Randaufhellung. Attraktive Nuancen von Lakritze und Cassis, Brombeerkonfit, Orangenzesten, feine Edelholznuancen sind unterlegt. Saftig, elegant und frisch, mittlere Komplexität, sehr lebendig, zitronig-salzig im Abgang, hat Charme, bereits gut entwickelt, ein lebendiger Speisenbegleiter mit Ribiselfinale."