Description
This wine from 2008 is a treat: mellow, aged and ready to drink Bordeaux, that has softened and gained complexity over time, with the trademark berry and savoury flavours, and fine-grained texture of mature Cabernet Sauvignon (55% of the blend) and Merlot (45%) grapes.
TASTING NOTE:
A lovely red/garnet colour in the glass, this wine has wonderful complexity of aroma, with mixed herbs (mint particularly) and savoury notes such as game, porcini mushroom, spice, black truffles and woodsmoke. It’s medium in body and just 13% alcohol, but with lovely complexity flavours, some berries as well as more of the savoury, umami notes of mushroom, miso and roast beef. This is Bordeaux, so the wine is framed by fine tannins, which have softened and provide a fine, sandy texture to add to the balance, rather than dominating or overwhelming the wine.
FOOD PAIRING, STORING AND SERVING:
This is complex, mellow and a delightful drink without food, particularly if you’d like to savour the umami flavours, spice and truffle quality. But, given the gamey/beef notes, put this with game or beef pie, or mushroom pie for a vegetarian option. Or with truffle pasta. It’s ready to drink now and is mature and layered in flavour, or drink over the next 18 months. It may throw a small sediment, but given it’s age, we’d recommend standing the bottle over 24 hours to allow the sediment to fall to the bottom of the bottle, then pouring (it doesn’t need to stand in a decanter for a long time).
ABOUT:
Chateau Lilian Ladouys is located in Saint-Estèphe, Bordeaux, in the Medoc vinegrowing area. Its history dates back to 1564. Since 2008, the Lorenzetti family have owned the Chateau, which stretches across 80 hectares of vines on clay/gravel soils. They’ve made significant investments into quality, in both the vineyard and the chateau, and are currently undergoing conversion to certified Organic farming. It’s very much an estate on the up, with characterful and typical wines of Saint Estephe, from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
