Chateau Rol Valentin 2016 Saint Emilion Grand Cru 375ml《FH187》

Château Rol Valentin is a relatively young estate located in the Saint-Émilion wine region of Bordeaux, France.

In June 1994, former footballer Eric Prissette purchased a beautiful house surrounded by vineyards in the heart of Saint-Émilion. He named the estate "Rol Valentin" and soon expanded the vineyard area to 7.3 hectares. In 2009, Nicolas Robin and Alexandra Robin acquired the estate and engaged the renowned Stéphane Derenoncourt as their winemaking consultant. After years of development, Château Rol Valentin has established itself as a representative estate among the Grand Crus of Saint-Émilion.

The vineyard is planted primarily with 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are hand-harvested and fermented in temperature-controlled wooden vats; the wine is then aged for 18 months in oak barrels (100% new oak) before bottling. In its youth, the wine is opaque in color and exudes aromas of ripe blackcurrant, licorice, and wild herbs; it is rich in fruit—displaying notes of both black and red fruits—and possesses a silky, smooth tannic texture.

Over the past decade, Château Rol Valentin has emerged as a prominent estate in the Saint-Émilion region. It produces "garage wines" characterized by limited production, deep color, and intense concentration, featuring aromas of ripe fruit and pronounced oak influence. Due to the word "Valentin" in its name, the estate is affectionately nicknamed the "Château of Lovers." Its second label, *Les Valentines*, features a design with cherubs holding a heart and playful typography; with its sweet, charming character, it is truly a wine crafted for lovers.

Chateau Rol Valentin is indeed a good wine!Every time you have a tasting at The Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux, whether it’s tucked away in a number of Grand Crus Classes or even the rival Classes B Bage went to try, holding high expectations, generally disappointed, honestly, really admire those wine critics, can pre-score the new wine and estimate the potential of immature wine, can only say he is the same wine different years tried N times, with experience tells him these child stars will become superstars in the future. Chateau Rol Valentin does have the advantage of early drinking, so it does not mean that he can defeat a number of strong opponents at any time and anywhere, so the wine industry often appears scenes of small victory over the big Chibi scene, the reason is nothing more than the song <time, people and place> sung by Joey Cheng and me, time - the state of the bottle of wine at this moment, characters - behind the brewer and consultant team, location - Terroir, of course, also hang ~

James Suckling 93pts

This has attractive plum pastry and blueberries on the nose, leading to a very nicely carved palate that has fine but sturdy tannins and good depth of ripe plum and mulberry flavors.

Wine Advocate 92pts

The 2016 Rol Valentin has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and offers up straight-laced, serious notions of fragrant earth, cigar box and sautéed herbs over a core of warm plums, mulberries and blueberry preserves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is completely packed with muscular fruit, with a firm, grainy texture and loads of freshness, finishing long and berry laced.

Vinous 91-94 pts

One of the standouts of the vintage, the 2016 Rol Valentin is fabulous. Rich, sumptuous and forward, with striking purity to its fruit, the 2016 shows the more opulent side of Saint-Emilion to dramatic effect. Succulent red cherry, plum, spice, chocolate, espresso, mint and rose petal race across the palate. Sumptuous and racy, but not at all heavy or overdone, the 2016 hits all the right notes. Bright floral overtones and veins of salinity add freshness throughout. This is a gorgeous and impeccably balanced wine. The 2016 was fermented in oak vat and underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel. The blend is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a terrific effort from proprietors Alexandra and Nicolas Robon and consulting winemaker Julien Lavenu.