Chateau Lilian Ladouys 2017

Professional Ratings

• 93 James Suckling

  Complex aromas of white pepper, black pepper, crushed berries and nutmeg. Medium to full body, ultra-fine tannins and a creamy, refined finish. A core of fascinating fruit and spice here. A blend of 50% merlot, 43% cabernet sauvignon and 7% petit verdot. Drink after 2021.

• 93 Wine Enthusiast

  The opulence of this wine balances the serious layers of tannins to give a wine with rich potential. Its spice and firm tannins will allow it to age. Best after 2023.

  Barrel Sample: 91-93

• 91 Wine Spectator
  Lively, with a mix of red and black cherry fruit lined with lightly chalky tannins and flickers of savory and lilac. Has a touch of toast and light twinge of austerity at the very end.
  Barrel Sample: 88-91
• 91 Jeb Dunnuck

  Another terrific wine from this estate, the 2017 Chateau Lilian Ladouys comes from gravelly soils in Saint-Estephe and is 50% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Petit Verdot aged in 40% new oak. It’s also worth pointing out that this cuvee sees malolactic fermentation in barrel as well as plenty of time on lees, which I think normally gives the wine plenty of early appeal. Beautiful notes of cassis, tobacco, leafy herbs, and damp earth all flow to a medium-bodied 2017 that shows the more elegant, straight style of the vintage. It has some firm tannins, so give bottles a handful of years.

• 91 Decanter
  From the same family who own Pedesclaux - and, I believe, new owners of several additional St-Estèphe estates. This has bright, juicy fruit in an unfussy and disarming style. It's a very nice wine, and good value too, with plenty to enjoy: uncomplicated berry fruits with touches of cherry and cedar oak. Another St-Estèphe win in 2017. 40% new oak. Yield 50hl/ha.
  Barrel Sample
• 90 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Lilian Ladouys has a fragrant herbal waft on the nose with a core of baked red and black currants, Morello cherries, tilled earth and cedar chest. The palate is medium-bodied, delicately played and pleasantly chewy with plenty of freshness and lovely purity on the finish. The wine was aged for 15 months in French oak, 40% new. The blend is 50% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. Eighty percent of the production went into this grand vin.