Château Valandraud - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 1999

Wine Advocate

90 / 100

byNeal Martinthe3/15/2017

Tasted at the Valandraud vertical at the property, the 1999 Valandraud has a dark color and seems very youthful for its age. It is very concentrated and heady with copious dark cherry and blackcurrant fruit, a touch of camphor, crème de cassis and later, a hint of Japanese nori. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe, rounded black fruit. It has a sweet core of black fruit tinged with charcoal, moderate acidity, quite caressing in mouth albeit missing the complexity that I was hoping for. Perhaps it will develop a little more personality with bottle age, as there is good substance here. Tasted December 2016.

Wine Advocate

90 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2002

Sweet coffee, mocha, leather, and black cherry and currant flavors dominate the pure, well-delineated, opulently-textured, hedonistic 1999 Valandraud. It possesses definition, length, and a singular personality. Anticipated maturity: now-2015.

Wine Spectator

90 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe3/31/2002

Lovely wine. Aromas of black licorice, berry and violets. Lots of tobacco. Medium- to full-bodied, with a solid core of tannins and fruit and a long finish. Best after 2004. 1,250 cases made.

Wine Advocate

90-92 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2001

Highly-extracted, with more noticeable new oak, Valandraud's 1999 is a typical blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. It offers impressive overall symmetry, fabulous purity, and tell-tale notes of smoke, espresso, chocolate, currants, blackberries, and cherries. Full-bodied, with sweet tannin and a creamy texture, it will be delicious upon its release in 2002. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2017. Proprietor Jean-Luc Thunevin and his wife, Murielle, are the de facto leaders of the St.-Emilion vin de garage effort. If that is not unsettling enough to the Medoc aristocracy, they are now starting up garage operations in Margaux and St.-Estephe.

Wine Advocate

92-94 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2000

The charismatic Jean-Luc Thunevin seems to be everywhere little known, high quality wines are produced. He is the force behind St.-Emilion's prolific vin de garage movement, and his wife, Murielle, is making the quasi-vin de garage in ... of all places ... the Medoc. The 1999 is opaque purple-colored, with a sumptuous bouquet of barbecue spices intermixed with smoke, espresso beans, chocolate, black cherries, prunes, and blackberries, this multiple-layered, complex, medium to full-bodied offering reveals low acidity, a voluptuous texture as well as superb purity and overall symmetry. A hedonist's pleasure bomb, this complex 1999 is capable of evolving for 10-15 years.