Château Rol Valentin: Tasting & Drinking
My first encounter with the wines of Château Rol Valentin was the 1995 vintage, if we put the corked 1994 I met on the same evening to one side. It was clearly a good wine, and now that I know the vineyards and terroirs of St Emilion much better I would say it was, considering its origins, very good indeed.
Even so, I was surprised when during subsequent years I would on occasion hear the estate referred to in the same breath as the best-known garagistes of the region, such as the aforementioned Château Valandraud as well as Le Dôme, La Mondotte and the like. I have to admit, regardless of what aspirations Eric Prissette may have had, I never saw in his wine the depth, texture, substance, fruit and sheer swaggering bravado that I saw in these other more famous names.
In more recent years I have had more opportunities to taste the wine of Château Rol Valentin, usually in their extreme youth, and I would stand by these earlier assessments. The wines tend to focus still on the fruit, which is pretty much all you can do on these sandy soils, where the vinification has perhaps a greater impact on the style of the wine than the terroir. Sometimes they have an attractive roasted-fruit character, a feature which stood out in the 2015 vintage, although I found 2016 seemingly pushed a little too far, with a smudged, diffuse, ill-defined fruit profile.
Most vintages, however, seem to sit in the middle, with attractive fruit, a charming texture and an appealing structure, making for a wine which, although rarely exciting, is often attractive. I liked the 2017, good for a frosted vintage, but the 2018 and 2019 held the most promise in recent years, along with a good 2020. Of more recent vintages, 2022 comes out on top, with potential high quality, with a very good 2023 snapping at its heels. (5/8/03, updated 21/6/17, 20/11/22, 14/7/24)
