Description
"When I was a student, picking grapes in Castillon, I dreamt of the day I'd see a serious fine wine with my name on the label. Still can't quite believe it! In four decades I've been grape growing in Castillon (bang next door to Saint-Emilion) I can't recall a finer vintage than 2005. It gave Jean-Marc - our Haut-Brion-trained winemaker - a near-perfect harvest of flavour-packed, old-vine Merlot to 'play with'. And boy has he done good!

For extra body and structure, he added a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, before ageing the wine for a year in fine French oak. Imagine our delight when it won Gold at the Concours des Grands Vins de Macon - one of the top wine contests in all of France.

Best thing is it's so affordable - a real poke in the eye to our illustrious neighbours. Because as Wine International wrote recently "If it wasn't for the line dividing Castillon from Saint-Emilion, its wines would be twice the price. The hills are the same, the soil is the same, the exposure is the same". Happily, the price tag isn't!

Laithwaite's 2005 is dark and smooth with deeply concentrated ripe, rich black fruit. Toasty vanilla flavours give way to deeper, more complex violet, plum and damson. As a Laithwaite's customer you have exclusive access to this claret - and it's mighty fine if I do say so myself! Please hurry - there's very little to go round."

- Tony Laithwaite

Jamie Goode WineAnorak .com May 6th 08 2008, United Kingdom

Concours de Macon 2007, France

Concours General Agricole Paris 2007, France

Hugh Johnson visit to NAH 28/9/07 2007, United Kingdom

Concours de Bordeaux Aquitaine 2007, France

Château la Clarière Laithwaite 2005 is available in the following cases: