Château Valandraud is the achievement reached by a wine obsessed couple, Jean Luc Thunevin and Murielle Andraud. Once having succeeded in establishing a wine merchant company in Saint Emilion (still up and running), their wish was to own a vineyard and make their own wine. In 1989 they turned their dream into reality by buying a small plot in the Fongaban central area of Saint Emilion, between Pavie-Maquin and La Clotte. The name Valandraud is a pure creation mixing Val (as the 1st plot is based in the Fongaban Valley) and Andraud (family name of Murielle that can be traced back to 1459 in the Saint Emilion registry). Little by little, they bought several plots and now Château Valandraud’s 8.88 ha vineyard is fully based in Saint Etienne de Lisse. The technical team is constantly seeking technical improvements and all processes combine tradition and modernity, from the care of the vineyard to the harvest done by hand, first sorting being done during the hand picking of the ripe grapes. The harvest is then carried to the organic inspired cellar, and the grapes are once more sorted by a Tribaie. The fermentation takes place in different tanks : stainless steel, concrete and wood. Once the alcoholic fermentation is done, the newly born Valandraud goes in oak barrels (100% new for each vintage) to start the malolactic fermentation. The ageing is from then on a game of « wait and see taste » and lasts from 18 to 30 months. The bottling of the wine (non filtreted, non fined) is handled by the team and own bottling group. The success of Valandraud was an inspiration for many and created the infamous appellation known as «garage wines »! Château Valandraud has been promoted to 1st classified growth of Saint Emilion since vintage 2012, 21 years after its creation.