‘Bad Boy’ wine savant in town

Sipping an espresso, Jean-Luc Thunevin unabashedly reveals that before he became a famed winemaker, he dabbled in woodcutting and banking, and even moonlighted as a disc jockey.

Unconventional is an apt word for the man who prominent wine critic Robert Parker christened the “bad boy” of Saint-Emilion.

Now, the garage wine pioneer is in Seoul promoting his wine.

Though not the first to make garage wine, Thunevin and his wife Murielle Andraud are considered pioneers of the increasingly popular style, which gets its name from being made from a small amount of grapes in not-so-posh places like the garage. 

More than two decades ago, the couple got a small patch of turf in Saint-Emilion, a region whose wine history goes back as far as the second century.

“There are a lot of wineries of aristocratic origin in Bordeaux but we are not one of them,” Thunevin told The Korea Herald in Seoul on Tuesday.

Thunevin and Andraud were the new kids on the Bordeaux block, and what Thunevin lacked in legacy, he quickly made up for in talent and skill.

There, the couple made do with limited resources, growing grapes on what land they had. To make up for the lack of facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, they focused on doing the work by hand and reducing the amount of grapes produced.

“It is like custom-tailored couture,” the 62-year-old winemaker-Bordeaux negociant described their hands-on, detailed approach.

Despite their lack of legacy or top-notch facilities, Thunevin and Andraud’s garage wine and winery, Chateau Valandraud, became famous within a short span of six years when it was awarded 95 points by Robert Parker.

Today, garage wine is everywhere. With its spread came criticism, which Thunevin weathered until 2012, when Chateau Valandraud was given Premier Grand Cru Classe classification, cementing its place in Saint-Emilion’s top 18.

Now that Thunevin has made it to the top, what does he have up his sleeve next?

For Korea, a wine market that he sees as moving toward increased mainstream consumption, his goal is to promote his product.

During his three-day trip, which ended Thursday, Thunevin conducted a vertical tasting of his wines, held a seminar on garage wine and attended a winemaker’s dinner at Sheraton Grande Walkerhill’s CLOCK16.

The Wednesday dinner showcased several vintages, including Chateau Valandraud 1999, Virginie de Valandraud 2007 and Bad Boy 2007.

Not afraid to infuse his wines with a healthy dose of humor, Thunevin said that his wine portfolio not only has Bad Boy, but also includes Bad Girl and Baby Bad Boy, a riff of his “bad boy” moniker and a nod to his wife as well.

“Baby Bad Boy is a merlot and grenache blend that is very sweet and chocolaty,” he explained.

Fueled by the desire to create a more approachable libation for beginners, Thunevin eschewed the norm by selecting an unconventional French blend of two varieties for Baby Bad Boy.

“One can enjoy Baby Bad Boy on its own, without food,” Thunevin said, highlighting its easy-to-drink attitude.

Approachability certainly is a boon for those who want to sample a Thunevin wine without shelling out more than 60,000 won per bottle.

Yet approachability is just the tip of the iceberg. What makes Baby Bad Boy particularly interesting is that it is made with grenache from Roussillon ― a region that Thunevin and wine experts believe holds great potential.

“You can guess its success because it is near Spain’s Priorat region, which has been very successful with syrah and grenache grape varieties,” said Thunevin.

Not one to skip out on what might become the next big thing in wine, Thunevin teamed up with Jean-Roger and Marie Calvet a decade ago to produce wine from the southern French region’s town of Maury.

To date, Thunevin-Calvet vintages made from grenache, mourvedre, carignan and syrah varieties have been released.

“The wine is very fruity, highly acidic but not sweet,” Thunevin noted.

Thunevin’s interest in the still relatively obscure region is a perfect example of the adventurous attitude that propelled him to fame in the ’90s.

It is also a perfect example of his own unending quest for great wine, and despite having nabbed Premier Grand Cru Classe for Chateau Valandraud, Thunevin is determined to go from being in the top 18 top to the top four.

“I must work harder.”

Bad Boy, Bad Girl and Baby Bad Boy wines are currently available in department stores in Korea.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)