Mostly Merlot (there's roughly 20% Cabernet Franc), the 2019 Château Valandraud Virginie De Valandraud from the Thunevin team reveals a deep purple hue to go with a brilliant nose of spiced currants, black cherries, new saddle leather, Provençal herbs, and subtle floral nuances. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, with gorgeous tannins and a great finish. It's the finest vintage for this cuvée I've tasted, surpassing the 2015, 2016, and 2018. It's going to drink brilliantly for 20 years or more.

(WE 93–95 points) This Merlot-dominated wine from the Valandraud vineyards is seriously structured and packed with black fruits. Its texture is full in feel, with chocolate flavors that are balanced by succulent acidity. Good for medium-term aging. - ROGER VOSS

Blackberry, chocolate and hazelnut character on the nose, following through nicely to a medium body with integrated tannins and a fresh finish. Tight at the end, suggesting more to come with bottle age. Hints of mushrooms and earth. Second wine of Valandraud. Hint of wood at the end that will dissipate with age. Drink after 2024.

The 2019 Virginie de Valandraud is wonderfully deep and super-expressive. Red plum, raspberry jam, espresso, crushed rocks, rose petal, lavender and tobacco build into the richly textured, resonant finish. This explosive, flavorful Saint-Émilion has a ton to offer. -- Antonio Galloni

Ripe and fragrant, smells so appealing. Rich and concentrated on the palate with a stony minerality that comes through straight away. Fine tannins are abundant but gently frame the wine that is clearly powerful but well presented. Plenty to come in time. Lovely wet stone minerality at the end with appealing graphite edges. Freshness with more savoury, spicy, minerals aspects than overt fruit at this point. Lots to like.

Powerful black fruits with plenty of depth, this is an excellent 2nd wine where you get chiselled and nuanced black cherry, coffee, cocoa bean, black olive paste and concentrated truffle notes. This is ambitious and you feel it at every step, but there is complexity here also. Stands out, and provides a great runway to the main estate wine of Valandraud. 100% new oak.

(90-92 points) Dark and smoky, with licorice, espresso and ripe black cherries on the nose, the wine is medium-bodied, round, soft, plush and already approachable. You can drink this young and over its first decade or so of life. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2019+Virginie+Valandraud

The 2019 Virginie de Valandraud has an intense nose with blackberry, graphite and orange peel scents that unfold with each swirl. The oak is nicely integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, a little chewy in style, broad-shouldered and dense, one of the more backward Saint-Émilion wines in this flight. Yet it retains balance and delineation; I would tuck it away for several years. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. -- Neal Martin