Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: St Emilion Big Boys
I barely feel I have scraped the surface of St Emilion in this vintage, and yet I have written much. But take a look at the plethora of notes on the next page and you will see what I mean. This is a huge appellation, with four or five times the number of wines tasted when compared with some of the left bank communes.
So I will crack on with some comments based on my other visits. First up is Château Valandraud, home to Jean-Luc Thunevin. Jean-Luc makes a rather attractive generic Bordeaux named Bad Boy; I can’t help feeling, looking at the style of wines offered at the three estates tasted here, that the term Big Boys might be more appropriate.
Château Valandraud
Château Valandraud is another château that benefitted from the 2012 St Emilion classification, having leapfrogged up to the premier grand cu classé level. I scheduled a tasting of these wines on my penultimate day in Bordeaux, after the three main days of tasting. As a consequence I was the only taster there on the day, in a private rendezvous in the garage in the centre of St Emilion where Jean-Luc Thunevin kick-started the movement which would ultimately come to be knows as garagiste. The garage is pictured below; yes, I know it doesn’t make for a very exciting picture, but I thought it would be interesting to include it all the same!
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