Chateau Valandraud Saint-Emilion Grand Cru AOC 2011

Chateau Valandraud is the result of the incredible work of the married couple, Jean-Luc Thunevin and Muriel Andraud. After achieving remarkable success in wine trading, they set an ambitious goal — to own their vineyard and produce their wine. In 1989, they acquired a small plot of land of half a hectare in the plain of the Saint-Emilion region. The name of the wine combines a hint of geographical location and the maiden name of the estate's owner, Muriel. Over time, Jean-Luc and his wife purchased several more plots, and now the total area of the estate is 10 hectares. The diversity of soils allows winemakers to produce six types of wine: the famous Chateau Valandraud, Chateau Valandraud Cachet, Virgini de Valandraud, Troix de Valandraud, as well as Blanc de Valandraud No. 1 and No. 2. At every stage of production, a combination of traditional and modern winemaking techniques is applied. The grapes for all wines are hand-harvested in a unique "family" atmosphere, where a whole team of fifty people, including friends, workers, and regular customers, comes together. An interesting year in the producer's history was 2000 — when Jean-Luc Thunevin decided to protect part of his Valandraud and Clos Badon Thunevin vineyards with plastic covering to safeguard the harvest from heavy rains. As a result, the National Institute of Appellations (INAO) prohibited assigning the wine of that vintage from those plots the classification of the Saint-Emilion appellation and ruled to strip it of its original name. The winemaker did not hesitate and decided to name this wine "L`Interdit de V...D" and "L`Interdit de B...N T...N" (L`Interdit — in French, means "forbidden"). This amusing episode is characteristic of the "garagistes" movement and clearly reflects their worldview.