Wine from a prestigious area of Bordeaux, France at a great Trader Joe’s price. We review the La Devise De Lilian Saint-Estephe Bordeaux.
60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon from Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, France. The wine is aged for 12 months before release.
The Left Bank of Bordeaux produces some very prestigious (and expensive) wines so we were happy to see the La Devise De Lilian Saint-Estephe at Trader Joe’s for just $19.99. Granted, $19.99 is a lot for Trader Joe’s, but this is a bargain for a wines from this region.
It comes from Chateau Lilian Ladouys in the Saint-Estephe region which is just to the north of Pauillac. It’s not an area you see often in stores like Trader Joe’s or Costco, which is another plus as far as we are concerned. (It is always doubly nice to both find a wine like this at all, and also get to take advantage of the low pricing of these retailers!)
The La Devise De Lilian Saint-Estephe is the second label of the Chateau, with Lilian Ladouys being the first. It does seem to be available at a handful of retailers besides Trader Joe’s, but it is also typically priced several dollars more. It is imported by Advantage International Distributors.
From the bottle:
Famille Lorenzetti, proprietaires
SAS Chateau Lilian Ladouys, exploitant a Saint Estephe – Gironde – France14.5% Alcohol
The 2018 La Devise De Lilian Saint-Estephe Bordeaux needs a lot of time to open up so plan accordingly! After a few hours of air, it reveals notes of dark fruit, spice, leather and cigar box as well as a bit of a savory note with even more time in the glass.
As you can probably tell, this is still a very young wine, but it is built to age. Accordingly it tastes similar to the nose with lots of oaky spice right now and plenty of tannins.
Smooth and medium to full-bodied, it also has the plenty of structure and was much better on day 2 showing more of that future potential.
It ends dry, long and oaky. If you’re drinking it now, it’s probably an 8 Taste Rating, but I do think it will creep up to a low 9 Taste Rating in a few years so we have scored it appropriately.
2018 La Devise De Lilian Saint-Estephe Bordeaux
RECOMMENDED BUY
As always you can find an updated list of our recommended wines from Trader Joe’s as well as more info on their pricing model and some tips and tricks for shopping the store in our giant guide.
You can also find more of our favorite wines from France here!
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