Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Super wine here. Aromas of spicy chocolate, almost jalapeño, then dark fruits. It’s full-bodied with silky tannins and a lovely finish. Balanced and refined. Just starting to come around. What depth of fruit. This has a long life ahead of it, but so good to drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Valandraud vertical at the property, the 1998 Valandraud has a sweet ripe bouquet with scents of dark berries, salted licorices, tobacco and cedar that is very intense and powerful. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. Bizarrely, it almost seems Left Bank in style with cedar and tobacco notes infusing the black fruit, the mintiness suggesting a Pauillac! I love the drive here, the focus and the slight aloofness, a wine that demands respect and is worthy of it. What a great 1998: elegant yet intense, classy yet approachable.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Drinking brilliantly today, the 1998 Château Valandraud offers an almost Médoc-like array of ripe black fruits, cedarwood, tobacco, and lead pencil-like aromatics. This trait carries over to the palate as well, where the wine is more medium to full-bodied, has a beautifully balanced, elegant mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. It's certainly a more restrained wine compared to Valandraud today, but it’s still a beautiful, elegant wine to enjoy over the coming decade. Best After 2022
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Wine Spectator
Intense aromas of roses, blackberry and prune. Full-bodied, with lots of ripe fruit, vanilla and chocolate character. Polished and silky mouthfeel. Even a little dusty. Long and beautiful. A burly, muscular wine in a traditional style; give it time. One of the best Valandrauds ever.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.