Virginie de Valandraud 2022

Virginie de Valandraud is the Second Wine of the legendary Château Valandraud.  It is created by one of the most powerful couples in the world of wine, Jean-Luc Thunevin – affectionately known as, “the bad boy of Bordeaux,” and his talented wife, Murielle Andraud.  This forward-thinking couple kept some of the top Bordeaux producers on their toes with their groundbreaking ideas, butting heads with the rigorously enforced traditions within the region.  Their wines speak for themselves as powerful, concentrated yet restrained Right Bank treasures.

Prior to becoming a vigneron Jean-Luc was a successful négociant.  In 1989, Jean-Luc and Murielle purchased a small 0.6 hectare plot close to Château Pavie Macquin.  They purchased an additional 1.2 hectares of vines a bit further east in Saint Sulpice.  The name, “Valandraud,” is an interesting one.  The “Val,” portion comes from the location where the grapes are planted, a place called Vallon de Fongaban.  The latter portion of the name, “Andraud,” is the last name of Jean-Luc’s wife, Murielle.  Murielle makes all the wine for Château Valandraud and Jean-Luc runs the business and is the face of the operation.

Château Valandraud was the property that started the garagiste movement in modern winemaking.  Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle started their winemaking operation with virtually no money, so they made their first few vintages in a garage, hence the name garagiste.  The plucky couple started breaking the rules fairly early on.  In the 2002 vintage, Jean-Luc covered his vines with plastic tarping to protect them from potential water damage during the rainy season before harvest.  The French National Institute of Appellations forbade this practice and declassified his wine as table wine in retaliation.  They also forbade Jean-Luc and Murielle from putting their name on the bottles.  No matter for the plucky power couple, as they simply sold their wines as, "L’Interdit de V…D."  The label literally translates as "The Forbidden of V & D".  Its use was pioneered by the fashion house Givenchy as a brand for a new perfume launched in 1957.  Who is to be fooled?  Everybody who knew Château Valandraud knew this clever labeling hack would be their way of skirting around the rules and regulations.  This earned Jean-Luc the title of the Bad Boy of Saint-Émilion. Château Valandraud was catapulted into the stratosphere when it was classified as a Saint-Émilion Premiere Crus Classés Class B property in 2012; a triumph for the estate.

Virginie de Valandraud was introduced as a Second Wine in 1992.  For the Thunevins, a Second Wine isn’t just a Second Wine, it’s a wine that is able to stand on its own merit.  The quality level of this Saint-Émilion Grand Crus is simply superb, and it is one of the better value for dollar wines on the market.  Since 1997, the undeniable quality of this wine raised its status to that of a First Wine, a Saint-Émilion Grand Crus.  This is a rare feat for a Second Wine, and proof that sometimes it's good to be a little bad...

"Based on 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2022 Virginie De Valandraud is a smoking good wine, offering layers of blackberries, currants, tobacco, and chocolate. Full-bodied and rich, it has a deep, velvety texture, terrific overall balance, and serious depth. Vinified and aged 20 months in new barrels, it will evolve nicely for 15+ years with ease." - Jeb Dunnuck, (02/28/2025), Ratings: 94

"Smells floral and lifted on the nose, pretty and pure, perfumed. Sleek and crisp, gorgeous personality and liveliness, bite and tang but such control and cool freshness. Really such excellent tannins, smooth but giving definition and weight to the palate with creaminess and chalkiness that is so appealing. Feels fairly serious and concentrated but so finessed. A beautiful wine, crunchy, sleek, forward, expressive and so utterly drinkable with freshness and a minty, wet stone, liquorice tang on the finish. Tension is apparent, it's still straight, but there's gorgeous potential. Harvest 12-29 September. Ageing 18-24 months, 100% new oak. 3.7pH. Production: 60,000 bottles." - Georgina Hindle, Decanter, (05/25/2023), Ratings: 94

"Brilliant quality Virginie, has so much grain and depth, this is one to recommend. Black cherry, saffron, white pepper, sage, mint leaf, espresso, opulent but with fresh juice running right through it. Harvest 12 to 29 September." - Jane Anson, (03/07/2025), Ratings: 93

"The 2022 Virginie de Valandraud is a very serious wine taken from parcels Jean-Luc Thunevin does not use for his other Saint-Émilions. Deep and explosive, the 2022 offers up copious dark fruit, espresso, licorice, chocolate, incense and spice. This rich, deep red is an absolute winner." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, (05/09/2023), Ratings: 92-94, Drink: 2025-2037