Community Tasting Notes 64

• sirpat00 wrote: 92 points

  December 4, 2023 - Valandrau vertical (1991-2020) (Fribourg): Selected tasting notes from a complete Valandraud vertical (1991-2020) hosted by a collector with an estate representative. Main observation was that both the work the estate did during the transition phase 2000-2012 is clearly bearing fruit in more recent vintages, further helped by warmer growing seasons that are favorable for this cool site in St Emillon. Additional comments included in the tasting story.
  
  Tasting note:
  Ripe dark cherry fruit, earthy with a bit of charcoal. Dense and structured palate, not yet integrated but with sufficient substance to carry this to the finishing line. Maybe retry in 5 years?

  Comment

• paulst Likes this wine: 94 points

  October 6, 2023 - Smooth and earthy elegancy with nice light and balanced berry fruit with and lone elegant finish.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• AAF2012 Likes this wine: 95 points

  January 15, 2023 - Stunning. And nice rebound from last time I drank it (see caveat at bottom). Nose near perfection; others wrote of "tension", completely agree. Blackcurrants, pencil, whiff of red berries, in tense harmony with refreshing acidity. Powerfully feminine, this was perhaps the best wine I've drank in over a year. Initial taste bone dry, sweet fruit emerges mid palate and builds through finish but sweetness never overbearing, always in balance. Fine, firm tannins provide great structure, but never overwhelming. They hold the whole thing together for long finish with the acidity. Drank with Japanese wagyu teppanyaki medium rare, plenty of fat, pairing was bliss. I was already tipsy and usually stop drinking by then but I just couldn't stop drinking this one hangover be damned and finished bottle. The nose was borderline perfection but the whole palate delivered too. This wine/night one of those rare nights for me, the ones you live for as wine lover. When you find your perfection.
  
  i dinged a few points given caveat below. otherwise would've been 98-99.
  
  *caveat* previous 98 Valandraud drank in July 2020, my same exact case same storage, was jammy with stewed strawberries, and totally lacked the tension, black fruit, structure and complexity of this one. total meh..in plain english it didn't at all live up to what i hoped. all around that exact same wine 2.5 years ago might've well been a different (vastly inferior) wine vs this one. looking at other comments, seems there may be some variability here. lol for the expensive crapshoot!

  Comment

• THECORKDORK Likes this wine: 92 points

  December 26, 2022 - Still alive and well. Classic right bank. Black pepper, smoked cedar, boysenberry. Still do not think it is worth the hype or price, though maybe this is one that is better young.

  Comment

• Cailles wrote: 96 points

  December 18, 2022 - 16x Right Bank Bordeaux 1998: Almost 25 years later, it’s a great time to check in on the wines of the much lauded right bank vintage. All wines tasted single blind. A few observations: A) most wines showed quite open with a melted tannin structure, but still good tension across the board. B) The highlight was rather on the structural side (elegance and finesse in most wines), than on the aromatic depth side, which was limited, also due to… C) …the fact that there is limited tertiary expression yet. Most wines will need at least another 5 to rather 10 years to reach their peak. D) An average rating of 91.9pts in my book and 92.0pts for the group shows that despite a few highlights, the reception was mixed overall. E) Best wines today were Angelus (group average 94.9pts), Valandraud (94.4) and Cheval Blanc (94.0). I would put L’Evangile (rated 95pts) in the top category too but the group (average 92.6) was less enthusiastic.
  
  TN: Medium+ expressive dark fruited nose with forest floor and earthy notes, some herbs. With time toasty notes and coffee. Elegant and inviting. On the palate there are plenty of dark berries, dark red berries, toasty notes, earthy aromas. With time more red berries. Well-defined and very harmonious. Melted tannins, good tension and freshness with a velvety texture. Weightless. Medium length. Overall a great wine and my WOTN thanks to the highest complexity, the best definition combined with the most weightless structure and feel. A fantastic wine that is starting to drinking at its peak but it will certainly add more teritary aromas over the coming years becoming even a touch better. The wine got 4 votes for WOTN and 11 out of 16 people rated it 95 pts or higher, more than any other wine.
  
  Decanting: Decanted for probably 3-4 hours which worked perfectly.
  
  Group score: 94.4
  Group rank: 2nd out of 16 reds

  Comment

Pro Reviews 6

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1998
• Type Red
• Producer Château Valandraud
• Varietal Red Bordeaux Blend
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country France
• Region Bordeaux
• SubRegion Libournais
• Appellation St. Émilion Grand Cru
• UPC Codes 071570021573, 4000129727556

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 12 (2%)
• In Cellars 309 (44%)
• Consumed 386 (55%)

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