Winemaker Notes
Blend: 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Brought up 22 months in a mix of new barrels, foudre, and once-used barrels, the 2023 Château Angelus is based on a classic blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. Gorgeously pure crème de cassis and black cherries are supported by graphite, spring flowers, smoke, and a terrific sense of crushed stone. It's medium to full-bodied on the palate and has a pure, graceful, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine, focused tannins, and a great finish. It's about as classy as they come.
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James Suckling
Exceptional clarity and transparency of fruit here, showing blackberries, red berries and cedar with violet and rose undertones and a layer of crushed stones and chalk. Medium- to full-bodied with a caressing mouthfeel. Tannins are dense but not heavy. The long, flavorful finish is very spicy with white pepper and cloves. Pure and complex. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc. Give this four or five years to come around.
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Decanter
Gorgeous nose, floral and scented with roses and violets, expressive strawberries and raspberries and some herbal elements. Full and filling, but soft and smooth, almost crushed velvet in texture. It’s not so tense and straight but has a solid backbone of freshness and plush fruit but very cool. It’s more on the structured side than overt acidity, serious but still with crunchy blueberries, chalky blackcurrant, lots of graphite and minerality on the finish. Less fruit forward than some but layered with complexity - a subtle opulence. Fleshy ripe tannins with mouthwatering acidity adding a serious touch. It’s missing that Angelus hug on the mid palate, but I like it a lot and you can’t fault the refinement and precision on show. It’s got body, length, tannins, crunch, freshness, and a vein of minerality underpinning the expression. 3.65pH. Harvest September 14 to October 1.
Barrel Sample: 97 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Angélus has turned out very well in bottle, confirming the expectations formed at the en primeur stage. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark wild berries, flowers and spices, subtly framed by toast, it is medium- to full-bodied, fleshy and ample, built around a lively core of fruit and framed by powdery, sweet tannins, concluding with a long, perfumed finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Angélus is elegant and polished right out of the gate. Floral top notes and bright acids bring out the more refined side of Angélus. The 2023 shows how much Angélus has evolved in recent years. Bright red-toned fruit, blood orange, mint and rose petal lend notable verve. The blend is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. About half of the Franc is being raised in foudre. All the elements are so well integrated for a young wine. It is one of the best recent vintages I have tasted.–Antonio Galloni
Barrel Sample: 94-96
At the origin of Angelus is an exceptionally well-situated vineyard, at the gates to the village of Saint-Émilion, on the famous south-facing "foot of the slope". Since 1782, over the generations, the passion and determination of the de Boüard de Laforest family have built a destiny worthy of the Estate. At 131 hectares including 62 hectares in Saint-Émilion, of which 31 hectares from the historic heart of the Estate, Angelus is now one of the largest vineyards in the appellation. In 2012, after more than thirty years at the helm of Angelus, Hubert de Boüard de Laforest passed the baton to his daughter, Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal. She became the third woman in the family's nearly 250-year history to preside over the destiny of this emblematic Estate, ensuring its legacy continues to thrive. Today, Angelus employs 170 people, produces 8 cuvées and owns restaurants and hotels, in particular, the Logis de la Cadène in Saint-Émilion and Le Gabriel in Bordeaux. In 2023, diversification continued with the creation of La Ferme 1544, forming a link between Château Angelus wine business and its restaurants.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.