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The Château Angélus 2019 displays an intense and bright, almost purplish colour in the glass. The exquisite aromatic purity and vibrant notes of black fruit and wild cherry form the cornerstone of this 2019 vintage. The woody notes are perfectly integrated. On the palate, the attack is smooth and the silky tannins roll out, coating the mouth beautifully. Thanks to the high quality of the Cabernet Franc, the finish is quite spicy and minty with a fresh tension. Revealing the authentic nature of the Château Angélus terroir, this elegant 2019 vintage is polished and precise.
Wine Description
The Story
Château Angelus is one of the largest and most prestigious St-Emilion estates and was promoted to1er grand cru classé status in the 1996 St-Emilion reclassification. Since 2012 ranked Premier grand cru classé (A) in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. Passionately managed for over four generations, Angelus is owned and run by two cousins, Hubert de Boüard de Laforest, andJean-Bernard Grenie and is located in the centre-west of the St-Emilion appellation, due west of St-Emilion town.
Chateau Angelus, which has been making wine in St-Emilion for almost 250 years, is still considered "new" for that appellation. It was founded by, and has always been run by, the de Bouard family. The name "Angelus" means the ringing of bells to commemorate a catholic devotion, and the workers in the Chateau Angelus vineyards can hear the bells ringing from three nearby churches...thus how the winery got its name. Although the quality of the wine has had some rough years, the quality of the terroir is one of the best in St-Emilion. And with some key education and talent emerging from the de Bouard family in the past 40 years, the winery is now realizing its potential and has rocketed to one of the top, most sought-after labels in the region. A blend of the merlot and cab franc, from perfectly balanced soils of limestone and clay, the real Cindarella story of Chateau Angelus in not the world class terroir or fruit, but of the winemaking practices that have been put in place over the past 40 years. Hubert de Boüard de Laforest joined the family business at Angélus in 1976 and proceeded to make several modernizing changes to the vinification that allows him more control over the quality. Under his management, and the consultancy of oenologist Michel Rolland, the estate has been consistently moving up in its classifications, eventually attaining Premier grand cru classe A in 2012. The style of Chateau Angelus is lush, dense and creamy, but also elegant, classy and pure with lots of freshness. There is a second wine, called Le Carillon d’Angélus, and a third wine, called No. 3 d’Angélus. You can see the bell, the Angelus, represented in the Chateau's label, cork, case and capsule markings, as well as in the elaborate sculpture that installed in the back of the main building. It makes it easy for you to imagine being transported to this majestic Bordeaux vineyard, hearing the bells ringing, smelling the sweet grapes, and feeling the sun warming you and the soil under your feet.
Wine Information
This 2019 vintage, made while the estate was undergoing conversion to organic-farming status, turned out to be easier to manage than the 2018, which was a vintage that ended up superbly but which caused worries and tensions. In this vintage, the Merlot has given our wine an opulent texture and succulent fruit, while our Cabernet Franc has brought freshness and tension. We chose to vinify with delicate extractions in order to preserve the brightness of the wine’s character and the purity of its fruit. The barrel-ageing process is ongoing, and the wine seems to be absorbing the tannins of the oak barrels without losing any of its bright fruit character or its balance. It possesses the depth, balance, tension and energy to be a vintage of great complexity and have an ageing potential worthy of the greatest years.
Blend: 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc
The Barrel Sample for this wine is above 14% ABV.
Vintage 2019
BORDEAUX 2019 VINTAGE
When I was visiting Bordeaux early March, Corona was a threat on the horizon and France has been more concerned by a strike of the air traffic control. However, I was travelling to Bordeaux and had the chance to get some first insights to the 2019 vintage. I was very much looking forward to the “en primeur tastings” which were scheduled for March 26, 2020 but the tastings were cancelled mid-March. Immediately I contacted the different associations and wineries in Bordeaux and asked for samples.
The result was a small number of wines which arrived in Essen before the shutdown of France made shipments rather difficult. These first samples of the vintage 2019 were tasted under pristine conditions to assure a fair and equal assessment of all qualities. In fact, the samples proved right the opinion of some of Bordeaux’ leading figures. Bruno-Eugène Borie from Château Ducru-Beaucaillou sees 2019 in a line with the excellent vintages of 2016, 2010, 2009 und 2005.
Henri Lurton talks about his best vintage, along with 2016, he has ever vinified at Château Brane-Cantenac. Philippe Dhalluin from Château Mouton-Rothschild asses the vintage as rich and abundant in quality and also in quantity. After some smaller crops they came back to an average production.
Emmanuel Cruse from Château d’Issan sees that 2019 has a lot in common with 2016 yet preserving more freshness. It is a very good vintage but appearing at a very difficult time on the market. In fact, the start of this vintage was very positive. Enough precipitations during winter were retained by soils like chalk and clay. Vineyards on these water retaining soils had a huge advantage in the future growing period. With exception of a wet June, the vintage has taken advantage of a rather dry climatic condition, which prevented diseases in the vineyards to a huge extend. No chance for powdery or downy mildew. Even the heat waves were not really harming the vines as rain set in, always at the last moment but still early enough to prevent massive water stress and a slow-down of the maturity. The late physiological maturity brought a lot of alcohol, but the wines show more freshness as in the previous years.
Fabien Teitgen, Winemaker of Smith-Haut-Lafitte relates this freshness to the good acidity “due to cool night temperatures during the ripening period”. This fact is also good news for white wines. „They are the big surprise “, says Olivier Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier.
At Château Coutet in Barsac, Philippe and Aline Baly were harvesting in three passes with a total of 19 harvesting days. They judge the conditions as rather ideal: “These climatic conditions have generated a harvest whose quality is indisputably present.” Same samples made their way to Essen and I have tasted them. Some more samples are announced and will hopefully arrive during the current week. There will be a weekly update of my tasting notes, whenever samples will arrive.
Unfortunately, 2019 arrives in a difficult time, the Corona virus puts the world in fear and makes trade more and more difficult. Trade berries and new customs duties create a difficult frame for this vintage. However, we should not forget one thing: there are wonderful 2019s waiting for us, wines with ageing potential and charm which will survive every crisis.