Plenty of toasty oak and extract here. This has immensely concentrated fruits with powerful yet silky tannins. Blackberry and dark-plum aromas dominate the nose with hints of dark chocolate and candied orange. Flavors follow suit amid fluid, muscular tannins that hold long into the finish.

The 2015 Valandraud is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with a profound nose of baked cherries, warm black plums, blueberry preserves and smoked meats with tilled earth, mocha, Indian spices and dried herbs nuances plus a touch of licorice. The mouth is big, full-bodied and powerful with notable, velvety tannins and it is packed with savory and spice flavor layers, finishing with epic length. This big-boned, voluptuous, Rubenesque beauty will blow hedonists' minds!

The 2015 Valandraud has long been one of my favourite vintages of Jean-Luc Thunevin, and six years on from my previous encounter, it remains a gorgeous wine. It is packed with black cherry and crushed strawberry fruit, still youthful, especially here, juxtaposed against its peers. Quite intense, but there is pedigree. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet, almost Napa-like entry that admittedly denudes it of some typicite- certainly not a classic" style of Saint-Emilion. But the oak is seamlessly subsumed and there is a precision on the finish that cannot be denied. Superb. Just starting to drink now, but it will continue to deliver for many years."

Since the first vintage in 1991, this wine and its vineyard have travelled far. Now close to the top of the classification tree in Saint-Emilion, this vintage shows the impressive nature of this powerful wine. With a good balance between acidity and black fruits backed up by tannins, the wine is powerful and stylish.