Chateau Lilian Ladouys 2007

I've always been a little underwhelmed by this St Estephe Chateau, and it's not getting any cheaper (£12.99 on offer at Waitrose, reduced from a hefty £17.99)

When I first poured this I was surprised at the density of colour for a 2007. This is dark, ripe and concentrated, has the classic pencil shavings on the nose, and right now tastes a little tart and overdone. The tannin is overshadowing the dark blackcurrant fruit today, though this settles a little with air. The finish is not convincing.

I suppose the real question is - why buy this when you can still get some fantastic St Estephe 2003s for similar money? 2007 is a light vintage across Bordeaux, whilst 2003 is a different animal. It was a notoriously hot summer and the wines from Bordeaux were of mixed quality, but in regions such as St Estephe where the soil is predominantly clay the soil was able to retain enough moisture and some stunning wines were produced. Petit Bocq 2003 is a terrific wine, as is Le Crock 2003, Le Boscq 2003 (currently available at the Co-op) and Tronquoy-Lalande 2003 (currently available at Tesco)

If you need something from Waitrose, the Liversan 2007 is currently on offer at £8.99, probably better for drinking now than this Lilian Ladouys (and far more approachable then the hard-as-nails 2006 Liversan in case you had that wine and were put off...)

Chateau Lilian Ladouys 2007 6.5-7.5/10 £12.99 (on offer) Waitrose.