Château Angélus
Address: 33330 St Emilion
Telephone: +33 (0)5 57 24 71 39
E-mail: chateau-angelus@chateau-angelus.com
Website: www.chateau-angelus.com
Château Angélus is a famous St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé situated on the ‘pied de cote’ facing due south owned by the de Bouard de Laforest family. For those fans of trivia, the wine was featured in the film Casino Royale, being drunk by Daniel Craig’s rugged James Bond with his beautiful sidekick Vespar Lynd [Eva Green] as they travelled by train to Montenegro. Bond’s tipple, aside from Bollinger RD, used to be Mouton Rothschild. So what better indicator that Angélus has truly hit the big time? As if to endorse this, the property was re-classified recently to join the ranks of Cheval Blanc and Ausone in the Premier Grand Cru Classé ‘A’ category. The second wine here is Carillon d’Angélus.
Vineyard/Terrior: 39 hectares in a single block on clay/limestone and clay/sand/limestone planted with 50% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Premier Grand Cru Classe.
Winemaking/Elévage: 18-22 months in new barrels.
- 2015 Deep and saturated; opaque at centre; wonderfully lush but precision here too; beautiful poise; wonderful aromatics; such juicy fruit; a very joyful vintage [not hot, sweet or overly ripe]; black fruits; sweet ripe plums; lovely seam of fruit on the nose; opens up to reveal layers of aroma; lovely palate; laden with fruit; considerable structure beneath the lush fruit; still nicely woven together with excellent depth – not the tannins of say 2010 evident; more lushness but also with some freshness too; nice length on the finish. Needs ten years but the fruit is beautiful here in 2015. [62% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc]. Drink 2022-2035. 97-100
- 2014 Deep and saturated colour; tight to the rim; opaque at centre; substantial and deep if a little closed at first; some perfume; layers but this is pent up; glossy quality; tight entry; nice seam of fruit; very packed but also very precise; like the precision; slowly opens up on the mouth; lots of extract and matter but the thing here is precision; some warmth on the back end which suggests alcohol; but the precision of the fruit and the seamless narrative of the wine are the thing. Fine quality of the tannins is good. Very good length. Lots of matter here and gravity. [50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc, harvest 2-22 October]. Tasted Angélus 29 March, 2015. Drink 2022-2035. 95-97
- 2013 Dark and deep looking; purple at edge; very seductive aromatics; black fruits, violet lift; very focused and composed; spice and plum tones; very focused and tight knit; palate quite full with plenty of material; some plum tones and fresh fruit characters; plenty of material; touch of wood on the palate at the end with chew at the back. Promising effort. [62% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc, 26-27hl/ha yields]. Drink 2020-2034. 91-93+
- 2012 Very deep and saturated; violets, layers of lush black fruits; deep and saturated palate; layers of flavour again; violets, plums, spices and freshness too; chewy finish which shows just how much saturation and material there is on the palate. Pretty dense effort. Despite the pretty aromatics, the palate is deeply serious. 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc. 92-94+ Tasted Weds 10th April at La Fleur de Bouard
- 2011 Deep and saturated; legs and tight to the rim; very dense looking; sexy floral nose, perfume, vibrant and very appetizing; nice accent on the fruit; cherry and blackcurrant; very nice; elegance that suggests life; sweet fruit; nice entry; composed wine with real depth; lots of oak and tannin here too but will come together as it’s well handled. Chewy finish but lots and lots of material. Bit at end. Tannin firm and trace of alcohol but overall very impressive indeed. 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc. Tasted at Groupement de Premiers Grands Crus Classes de Saint-Emilion at Chateau Canon 6/4/12. 94-96
- 2010 Very deep and saturated looking; inky and intense; sublimated style; wet rocks too; palate little closed and subdued; wet rocks; obvious weight and scale; spicy finish; extract and matter but not that expressive on the day. Was all exotic richness during primeurs. Needs five years? Drink 2020-2035. 93+ MW Institute Nov ’14 [Earlier note] Rich and deep looking; lovely seductive nose; real quality, some smoke and savoury notes; layered and intense; terrific; palate wonderful; fabulous concentration; extract, sweetness and perfume here; really terrific. Very clean and well done. One of the real standouts. Brilliant. Very sublimated, intense. 98/100 Tasted April 6 Groupement de Premiers Grands Crus Classes de Saint-Emilion.
- 2009 Deep and very saturated; very intense and inky with lots of depth and material; resin and ink; this is a very dense wine with lots of material and extract, tightly wound; pretty tannic and chewy on the finish. Very dense and long-term. 2019-2040. 95+ MW Institute Nov ’13
- 2006 Very deep and extracted; very tight and dense to the edge; dense nose with minerals and tar, feels very strong but I’m not sure I’ve the stomach for this – palate actually more silky than I’d expected given the density and extract here. Still feels like it’s a wine on steroids though. Not a huge amount of joy at present. I’ll leave it to James Bond. 88-90?/100 MW Institute Nov ’10.
Carillon d’Angelus, St Emilion Grand Cru
- 2014 Deep and saturated at the core; looser at the edge [than Angélus]; seductive; black fruits; some spice and savoury notes; very attractive and forward; sexy almost; smoke and meats; sweet entry; nice balance; savoury and sexy to a degree; lots of matter and structure but all very together; complete experience. Very good effort. Tannin and warmth on the finish. [70% Merlot, 30% Cabernets]. Tasted Angélus 29 March, 2015. Drink 2018-2028. 90-92+
- 2013 Deepish, earthy purple at edge; attractive spicy aromatics; pretty nose; perfumed; soft entry, very easy palate and not at all forced; emphasis on the prettiness here; spicy qualities. Lightness of touch. Drink 2018-2024. [75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc]. Tasted Angelus 2/4/14. 85-87
- 2012 Deep and saturated; some perfume and violet lift; palate quite tight and grippy with real chew and density. Doubtless the Cabernet influence, Cabernet Sauvignon especially. 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Savignon, 25% Cabernet Franc 89-91 Tasted Weds 10th April at La Fleur de Bouard