"Chateau La Clariere Laithwaite ... leading estate in the Cotes de Castillon" (Decanter) - not bad for a chap who started out in a van from underneath a railway arch! Lavished with paternal care and attention, the 2008 was crafted using hand harvesting and the best French oak (to the accountant's horror!). But the resultant wine is extremely 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!