Chateau Valandraud

From garage wine to First Growth

Before becoming a winemaker, Jean-Luc Thunevin worked in the wine trade. His négociant business, Thunevin, began in 1988 in Saint-Émilion and primarily dealt in Right Bank wines, which remain the company's core business to this day.

Then came 1991. Thunevin and Murielle Andraud invested all their funds in a small vineyard at Fongaban to produce their first Valandraud. Production was extremely limited, the facilities were makeshift, and the wine was labeled a garage wine, a term that wasn't always used in a positive sense at the time.

Success came at a pace no one had anticipated. In 2012, Château Valandraud was classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Emilion, and this ranking was confirmed following a reevaluation in 2022. The 2022 classification list included a total of 14 Premier Grand Cru Classés, two of which were rated A, along with 71 Grand Cru Classés. During the same reorganization, Clos Badon-Thunevin was included in the Grand Cru Classé list.

Valandraud is the best-known name within this broader group. Thunevin SAS owns estates in Bordeaux, Lalande de Pomerol, Pomerol, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, and Domaine Thunevin-Calvet within Roussillon, producing a total annual average of approximately 700,000 bottles. All of these wines are sold through the négociant team.

It started with 0.6 hectares

The original property was 0.6 hectares in size and located in Fongaban, a corner of the Saint-Emilion area where a small garden and a modest vineyard were situated within the town walls. Since it was neither a well-known location nor expensive, the couple, who were not financially well-off, were able to purchase it.

Château Valandraud has grown far beyond its humble beginnings. Today, the winery is headquartered in the village of Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, situated on the eastern edge of the Saint-Emilion appellation, where the château and a modern wine cellar are located, and where tours and tastings for visitors are held.

Dozens of people work in the vineyards and winery throughout the year, which clearly demonstrates how this estate is managed. Each plot is meticulously tended, and soil management is viewed as a routine task rather than a topic of discussion.

Limestone, east of town

Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse is situated in a limestone region, and Château Valandraud consistently mentions this fact when describing its wines. He often refers to them as wines born there and a land shaped by limestone. On the Right Bank, this bedrock helps store moisture during dry summers and preserve the fruit's acidity.

However, strictly speaking, Valandraud's story is not one of terroir first. Their first vineyard was modest in size by local standards, and the winery has always maintained that how the land is cultivated is just as important as the reputation of the location itself. Thirty years later, the classification committee agreed with their assessment.

Merlot first, with Cabernet Franc behind it

Red wines follow the classic Right Bank pattern. Fot the white wines, three grape varieties are used.

• Merlot: The primary grape variety for red wine
• Cabernet Franc: A variety commonly used in combination, accounting for a significant portion of the blend in second wines
• Sauvignon Gris: The variety harvested first during the white wine harvest.
• Sauvignon Blanc. For the white wines.
• Semillon. Also for the white wines.

As in other regions of Saint-Emilion, the exact proportions vary by vintage, so it is difficult to predict the following year's blend based solely on that year's blend ratios. That accounts for the red and white wines.

The winemaking

Valandraud's early reputation was built on a production method that relied on painstaking hand work to produce small batches, simply because there were no other options. While the scale has changed, the dedication remains the same.

Christophe Lardière leads the vineyard team at Château Valandraud. Rémi Dalmasso is the head of the winery. Since both work closely with Marie Lefévère on vineyard management and winemaking decisions, the vineyard and winery are not treated as separate departments.

Harvesting is carried out sequentially by grape variety rather than all at once. For white wines, the Sauvignon Gris variety is harvested first, and the remaining varieties are harvested one after another over the following days. The rhythm at the winery changes completely the moment the grapes arrive, and this is the time of year when the winery keeps the most meticulous records.

The wines

There are two wines that use the name Château Valandraud as is. The red wines are Merlot-led and Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé as Chateau Valandraud. The Château Valandraud Blanc is a white wine and produced under the Bordeaux appellation.

The second wine of Chateau Valandraud is the Virginie de Valandraud, which consist of both red and white wines. 

The white wines receive relatively less attention due to their small share of total production.

The best vintages of Chateau Valandraud

The best vintages of Chateau Valandraud include: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019.