Château Angélus: The Angel of St-Emilion
“Château Angélus, among the greatest of St-Emilion’s 13 premiers grands crus classés, certainly deserves its great reputation, and is producing more harmonious wines than ever since 1996.”
James Lawther MW, Decanter
14 Wines including 6 Premier and 6 Grand Crus
Six Vintage Vertical 1er Grand Cru Classé
2022 | 2019 | 2018 | 2015 | 2009 | 2005
Six Vintage Vertical Le Carillon de l'Angélus, Grand Cru Classé
2022 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 | 2015
Wednesday, July 1st
Private Dinner
Hosted by Bong Grelat, Export Manager for Chateau Angelus
6.30pm-9:30pm | 14 Wines and 4 Courses | $1450pp
The Château Angélus private dinner is strictly limited to a 12 seat capacity. Book your tickets now through the button below.
About Château Angélus
Chateau Angélus is one of the most renowned estates of St-Emilion. Currently designated Premier grand cru classé (A) in the most recent 2012 Classification of Saint-Émilion, the estate is owned and managed by eighth generation Hubert de Boüard de Laforest and his cousin Jean-Bernard Grenie. Located in the centre-west of the St-Emilion appellation, the estate’s vineyards are planted on a warm south-facing slope. The Grand Vin is a dense, unctuous blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, that can appear slightly austere when young, developing greater generousity and richness with age.
Decanter’s producer profile on Chateau Angélus
Moneypenny, James Bond, Q. Not a bad trio for your wine to share the screen with in its latest cameo. I’ll try not to give too many spoilers if you haven’t yet seen No Time To Die, but I don’t think it gives too much away to say that Bond can’t resist swiping two generous glasses of Château Angélus (2005, although you don’t see the vintage on screen) for himself and Moneypenny from a bottle that Q had carefully opened for his date later that night.
This is the third Bond film in which Angélus has made an appearance; the 1982 was drunk by Vesper Lynd and Bond on the train to Montenegro in Casino Royale, while the 2005 vintage can be spotted in Spectre.
With high-profile associations including a high-grossing film franchise and various Michelin-starred restaurants, Château Angélus clearly enjoys being in the limelight. But what’s the story behind this acclaimed St-Emilion estate and its distinctive label?
The association with Bond has taken the already-famous label – pale yellow, distinctive black writing surrounding a golden bell – to an audience of billions worldwide. So far, so clever product placement.
But the bell, as with so much of the story of this wine, is not just smart marketing but an authentic symbol of the roots and location of the winery itself. It has been on every Angélus label since the 1945 vintage, and is a reference to the bells that you can hear from this spot – on the northwestern edges of St-Emilion. Here, in the biggest of the communes that surround the town, to its west, there are records of vines growing as far back as the 12th century.
The vines are on south-facing slopes that follow a natural amphitheatre shape, from where you can hear the ringing bells of three neighbouring church towers – belonging to the Mazerat chapel, St-Martin-de-Mazerat church and the main St-Emilion church.
Even the name Angélus is a reference to these bells ringing out the call to the Angelus prayer, which used to punctuate the working day in the morning, noon and evening. There are very few family-owned estates in Bordeaux that have been in the same hands since before the French Revolution. Still fewer that have gone on to become classified châteaux in Bordeaux rankings – on either bank, Left or Right.
And yet Château Angélus has been owned by the Boüard de Laforest family since 1782, when Jean de Boüard de Laforest bought a plot of vines in St-Martin-de-Mazerat. In 1795, Jean’s daughter Catherine married Charles Souffrain de Lavergne, whose family had a plot of vines in the same village, and the couple moved to Mazerat.
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Bob Campbell MW | The Real Review Article excerpt:
…The property rose in status in 1996 when it was promoted from Grand Cru Classé to Premier Grand Cru Classé (B). Just 18 years later the property was promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé (A). I congratulated Hubert for that impressive achievement and quizzed him on the claim of journalist Isabelle Saporta that “Hubert de Boüard is judge and jury in the preparation of the classification.”
He explained that the selection process is based on a blind tasting by 15 experts and is beyond reproach. End of story.
Hubert travelled a lot between 1980 and 1985 and during that time fell in love with Burgundy, an unusual infatuation for a man whose family has owned Château Angélus since 1909.
The winery works on a gravity system for gentler wine handling and has stainless fermenters that are, unusually, flared to increase the surface-to-volume ratio to give the wines less extraction.
“To make great wine you need three things – harmony, harmony and harmony.”
Hubert went on to explain that by “harmony” he meant a perfect balance between fruit extraction, oak and acidity. He likes to harvest earlier than usual to create wines with greater freshness and elegance. Hubert prefers cool nights, which arrest ripening and then start it again the following day.
He avoids lees stirring for 10 months but likes to leave his wine on the lees, which protect against oxidation and allow him to adopt a low sulphur regime. Barrels are stored at the relatively low temperature of 13-14 C during maturation.
Hubert was born in the middle of a vineyard (I assume that the family home was surrounded by vines) and was given his first set of secateurs at the tender age of seven.
“I’m not a computer man, I like to hang out in the vineyard.”
The proof, as they say, is in the tasting. I started by tasting the 2011 Château Bellevue, a neighbouring property to Angélus which they have owned since 2007. It’s 100% merlot because the soils at Bellevue are deep clays and therefore best for merlot. The 2011 vintage was challenging and yet the wine did not reflect it. It was delicious and a great start to the tasting. At NZD $167 this was an “entry level” claret.
The second label of Château Angélus was next, the 2012 Le Carillon d’Angélus. Hubert doesn’t like the term “second label” preferring to describe it as “a wine which we make in a different way Château Angélus”. He uses less oak to reduce extraction to make a more gentle, approachable and elegant wine with finesse. It was an eye-opening Right Bank Bordeaux – deliciously accessible.
Bong Grelat-Tram
Export Manager | Chateau Angelus
Of French-Vietnamese descent, the affable Ms. Grelat-Tram, who joined the chateau in 2013, holds a master’s degree from Bordeaux University.vHer path into wine began in Bordeaux, where she studied at university before moving into the wine industry. In a Forbes profile, Grelat-Tram described discovering wine through vineyard work while studying, later meeting Hubert de Boüard of Château Angélus during an en primeur campaign in Saint-Émilion. She credits Hubert and Stéphanie de Boüard as important figures in her wine education and professional development. Her connection to both the château and the wider world of Bordeaux makes her a wonderful guide for an evening devoted to one of the region’s great names.
Image Taken from Forbes Magazine, Article: How This Vietnamese Woman Succeeds With Her Bordeaux Wine 2022
The Wine List
2023 Château Angélus Tempo d'Angelus
Racy fruit with hawthorn, rose hips, red berries and cherries. Linear, with a nice structure, but nothing heavy from the fruit flesh in the middle. Fine-grained, with medium body and a chewy but juicy finish. Needs two more years to allow the fruit tannins to round off. More bones than flesh this year.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
2023 Château Angélus Clos du Milieu
Clos du Milieu is sourced from a single plot, entirely planted with Merlot, bordered by hedgerows. This new cuvée whose vines are situated in the centre of our vineyard in the commune of Castillon-la-Bataille, just a few kilometres from Saint-Emilion, in the magnificent cool, deep clay-limestone soils of the upper slope, displays freshness, tension et density. The Clos du Milieu offers the finest expression of Merlot and gives an elegant, structured wine with good ageing potential.Chateau Angelus, Winemaker
First course
2022 Château Angélus Le Carillon de l'Angélus, Grand Cru Classé
The 2022 Le Carillon d'Angélus is a rich, boisterous wine. Succulent dark cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather and licorice are nicely pushed forward. Racy and pliant, the 2022 Carillon is showing quite well in this tasting.
93 Points - Antonio Galloni, Vinous (April 2023)
Aromas of fresh herbs, such a basil and lemon grass, come through here, together with blackberries, dark plums and some orange peel. Medium-boded with medium, velvety tannins that provide layers and a polished texture. It's long and creamy with lovely fruit at the end. A beautiful wine with a pretty structure, too.
93 Points - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
2020 Château Angélus Le Carillon de l'Angélus, Grand Cru Classé
Cedar and floral with dried rose petals and plums with some cherries and fresh tobacco. Medium to full body. Linear and tight with fresh and fine tannins. Chocolate and hazelnut. 90% merlot and 10% cabernet franc. Second wine of Angelus. Give it four to five years.
95 Points - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (December 2025)
2019 Château Angélus Le Carillon de l'Angélus, Grand Cru Classé
Redcurrant, sweet-tobacco, bark and earth aromas follow through to a full body with a creamy texture of crushed stone and pure fruit at the end. It’s tight and pure with beautiful finesse and mouth-feel. 90% merlot and 10% cabernet franc. Second wine of Angelus. Try after 2026.
95 Points - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
This is the vintage where you start to see the results of the new plots for Carillon (one near Cheval Blanc and another in St Colombe), with supple berry fruits and floral aromatics, along with softly brushed tannins and smoke. This is elegant and well paced, with plenty of espresso and cocoa bean gourmet edging. Bottled May. 60% new oak. 20ha now dedicated to Carillon d’Angélus (with 5ha going into both Carillon and No 3 d’Angélus). New cellar for first time, reflecting the fact that since 2014 there have been plots dedicated only to these two wines.
93 Points - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
Second course
2018 Château Angélus Le Carillon de l'Angélus, Grand Cru Classé
Beautifully expressive aromatics, really jump from the glass, alive and nuanced, floral, fruity - rosehip, cranberry, cardamom, cinnamon. Supple and lithe, this has movement to it which is so nice. Not super tense and straight, not dense and chewy, somewhere in-between with bright, mouth-watering acidity that lifts the expression. Hints of chalky minerality on the finish brings it back to focus with a moreish aspect. Tannins are great, barely noticeable but still giving the frame and support to the structure. Well delivered. Gorgeous purity, balance and harmonious, really lovely drinking here.
93 Points - Georgina Hindle, Decanter (at Bordeaux, 01 Dec 2023)
2016 Château Angélus Le Carillon de l'Angélus, Grand Cru Classé
Still young, far more so than the 2015, and you really see Carillon d'Angélus taking a step forward in precision - something that has been maintained since this vintage. A touch of reduction on the first nose, quickly clears to show plump black cherry fruits, liquorice and spices. They were looking to pick slightly earlier at this point to increase freshness and ageing potential, and you can see the results. A brilliant quality Carillon with huge sculpting and potential. 70% new oak.
94 Points - Jane Anson, Decanter (at Château Angélus, 02 Nov 2021)
2015 Château Angélus Le Carillon de l'Angélus, Grand Cru Classé
This wine comes from part of the Angélus estate that is not classified, as well as wines that are not considered right for Château Angélus. The result is an accessible, ripe wine packed with red fruits, soft tannins and attractive, juicy acidity. The wine will be ready to drink from 2024.
92 Points - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast (Tasted Jan 2018)
Third course
2022 Château Angélus, 1er Grand Cru Classé
The 2022 Château Angélus is made up of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc with a pH of 3.65. Deep garnet-purple colored, it prances out of the glass with flamboyant notes of red currant jelly, wild blueberries, cassis, and candied violets, followed by suggestions of jasmine tea, star anise, and crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate is impactful from first sip, yet slowly expands in the mouth, ultimately over-delivering on the nose's promise with layer upon layer of perfumed black and red fruits, supported by super fine-grained, silt-like tannins, finishing long and achingly shimmery.
98-100 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (May 2023)
A vintage of precision and aromatic purity, this is one of the finest Angelus wines ever made. A blend of 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, the nose is heady and complex, filled with dark chocolate, cherries, blackcurrants, violets, and rose. On the palate, it's silky, scintillating, and fresh, with a crystalline clarity and balance that feels almost effortless. Chalky yet creamy tannins add depth, while flashes of heat and liquorice spice on the finish bring structure and length. Juicy, deep, and incredibly moreish, this dances across the palate with finesse and vibrancy. A wine of energy, persistence, and sheer sophistication. 100% new oak (50% Cab Franc in foudre). 3.7 pH. 75 IPT. Organic.
100 Points - Decanter
So many beautiful primary fruit aromas. Al dente. Peaches. Very floral. Aromatic. Full-bodied and extremely fine tannins with length and beauty that show incredible depth. Superb brightness and reality. Exciting. Cabernet franc freshness and dynamics come through now, even though the blend is 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc.
99 Points - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
2019 Château Angélus, 1er Grand Cru Classé
The 2019 Angélus has a sophisticated bouquet with extraordinarily pure blackberry, raspberry, inkwell and crushed iris petals scents, like the Carillon but HD in terms of its clarity. The palate is beautifully defined on the entry, the Cabernet component steering it towards say, Figeac or Cheval Blanc stylistically. It already feels very harmonious, the satin-like texture is supported by real substance and grip on the finish, perhaps more density than some of its peers. This is an outstanding Angélus, one likely to surpass the 2016, a wine that will give 30-40 years of pleasure, maybe more. 2026 - 2060.
98 Points - Neal Martin, Vinous
2018 Château Angélus, 1er Grand Cru Classé
“This year we have slightly less Cabernet Franc in the blend because we are only using the oldest vines, planted by my grandfather, as a tribute,” Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal said. “These are 60- to 80-year-old Cabernet Franc vines.” From 2018, 10% of the entire Angélus crop will be aged in large oak foudres. “These produce tighter, more perfumed, brighter wines from less oxygen exposure,” Stéphanie commented. The 2018 Angélus is blended of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc, to be aged 18-22 months in barriques, 100% new, plus two new foudres. Deep garnet-purple in color, it slips slowly, sensuously out of the glass with beautiful black raspberries, kirsch, warm plums and red roses scents, building in intensity to reveal chocolate-covered cherries, raspberry coulis, black tea, woodsmoke and powdered cinnamon notions with a waft of black olives and charcuterie. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers a wonderfully profound, multilayered, seamless experience of red and black fruits intertwined with earth, spice and floral notions and framed by exquisitely ripe, satiny tannins, finishing with amazing freshness and length. Incredibly, finely, expertly, seamlessly knit. Stunning.
97-100 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Advocate (Apr 24, 2019)
Sweet tobacco and black olives with some basil and terra cotta. Violets and dark berries, too. Very fine and linear with freshness and beauty. Full and very tight with beautiful depth. It goes on for a very long time. Best after 2025, but seductive now.
98 Points - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (Jul 15, 2022)
96–98. Barrel Sample. This is a dense, smoky wine, packed with ripe tannins and a line of fresh acidity that forms a fine contrast. It's a great wine that is rich in tannins while keeping elegance and finesse.
96-98 Points - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast
2015 Château Angélus, 1er Grand Cru Classé
A blend of 62% Merlot and 38% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Angelus reveals a deep garnet-purple color and fragrant aromas of crushed red currants, warm plums and pencil shavings with hints of incense, sage, violets and tobacco. Full-bodied, very fine and intense yet exquisitely delicate with wonderful freshness, it has ripe yet firm, very finely grained tannins and an epically long, perfumed finish. With bags of perfume and a captivating plushness, this Angelus is a real head-turner!
97 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
2009 Château Angélus, 1er Grand Cru Classé
A candidate for perfection with a few more years of bottle age, this great vintage of Angelus has an almost impenetrable black/purple color and a gorgeous nose of incense, graphite, blackberry liqueur, truffles and spring flowers. The wine is full-bodied, with a voluptuous texture a magnificent concentration and purity of fruit, a stunning finish of close to a minute, and wonderfully sweet, velvety tannins that make for a prodigious Angelus that should turn out to be one of the all-time greats ever made at this estate. Drink it over the next 25-50 years.
99+ Points - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate (Aug 28, 2015)
Blended of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet colored 2009 Angélus sings of blackberry preserves, warm black cherries, stewed plums and dried herbs with hints of Chinese five spice, fragrant earth, truffles and new leather. Full, rich, spicy and decadent in the mouth, it has a plush, velvety texture and well-knit freshness, finishing very long with tons of spicy layers.
99 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Advocate
2005 Château Angélus, 1er Grand Cru Classé
Truly great stuff, this wine performed at a three-digit level both in the horizontal tasting of 2005s in Baltimore, as well as in Montreal at this mini-vertical. This sensational, opaque, bluish/purple wine offers up notes of vanillin, spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry liqueur, plus a touch of licorice. The wine hits the palate with a thunderous cascade of ripe, rich, concentrated fruit. It is full-bodied, multidimensional and layered. The tannins are beautifully integrated but still present, and the wood, acidity, alcohol, etc., are all beautifully assimilated in this magnificent, majestic vintage of Angelus. It can be drunk now, but it is still an adolescent and that suggests it has at least another 25-35 years of longevity.
100 Points - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate (Aug 28, 2015)
45% merlot, 55% cabernet franc. Great wine from an excellent vintage. Moderately fleshy wine with rich, rounded tannins supporting dark berry, dark-fleshed plum, dried fruits, Christmas cake, chocolate/mocha, coffee and new leather characters. It has the sort of density I expect from old vines. Decant for three hours says the winemaker.
99 Points - Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review (11 Jun 2018)
The 2005 Château Angelus has been absolute pure perfection every time I've been lucky enough to taste it, surpassing the 1990 and rivaling the 2009 and 2018. Based on 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, it has a dense ruby/plum hued to go with mammoth-sized aromatics of red and black currants, smoked tobacco, scorched earth, truffle, and smoke. Incredibly concentrated, full-bodied, and massively concentrated, it has beautiful tannins and flawless balance. While I certainly appreciate the slightly more dialed back, finesse-driven style of Angelus today, tasting this sensational, singular beauty makes me miss this powerful, more opulent style.
100 Points - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com
Fourth course