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2003 Chateau Valandraud St. Emilion Grand Cru
Vineyard: Chateau Valandraud
Price: $280.00
Retail Price: $444.00
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend
Style: Red
Region: France > Bordeaux > Saint-Émilion
Other Vintages: 2004
Drink By: 2022
WINEMAKER'S NOTE
The harvest is picked in only two days but it is done "in the family" using some thirty people who are friends as well as employees, even customers with a passion for wine lend a hand. A first selection is done in the vineyard to make sure only fully ripe grapes are picked. <p>Once they arrive at M Thunevin's minute winemaking facilities, the bunches are again selected on a sorting table before being stemmed manually. The next stage consists of bursting the grapes in a hand-crusher. The must obtained, which is very rich and pure, is then run off by "muscular" gravity into the oak fermentation vasts. <p>Once the alcoholic fermentation is over, the "nouvelle cuvée" of Valandraud is drained into new oak barrels for the malolactic fermentation. Although this rare way of working is expensive and also rather a dangerous exercice, M Thunevin does not hesitate to take the risk in order to perfect his wine.
Expert Reviews
Read all 2 expert reviews
  • Vintage Chart
    Rating for France-Bordeaux-Saint-Émilion: 90 (slightly better than average year)<br/><br/>Drinkability: unpredictable<br/>
  • Robert Parker
    Rating: 93/100 - As reviewed by Robert Parker on 04/01/2006