Château Angelus 2020
Review of the Estate
Named Chateau Angelus because the sound of the Angelus bells, from three, different, nearby churches that can all be heard in the vineyard at the same time, for eight generations the De Bouard de Laforest family have owned and run Chateau Angelus which is situated in Saint-Émilion. Today, Chateau Angelus is headed by Stèphanie de Bouard.
In 1954, Chateau Angelus became a classed growth and, in 1996, it was further elevated from Grand Cru Classè to Premier Grand Cru Classè B. In 2012 Chateau Angelus was again raised, to what is the region's highest classification level, Premier Grand Cru Classè A.
The grapes harvested at Chateau Angelus are meticulously sorted in the cellar, using three sorting tables, and fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks, concrete tanks, and oak vats. After fermentation, Chateau Angelus wine is racked into new, oak barrels. Blending and assemblage is carried out following the first summer of ageing. Then the wine is then aged for another 20-26 months.
Vineyard
Surface area: 57.8 acres
Grape Varieties: 50% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon
Average age of vines: 30 years
Density of plantation: 7,000 - 8,000 vines per hectare
Average yields: 32 hectoliters per hectare
Average cases produced: 6,000 per year
Plateau of maturity: 4 - 25 years
Château Angelus 2020 Reviews / Tasting Notes
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Advocate
Point Score: 98-100
The 2020 Angelus has an opaque purple-black color, pulling you in with a captivating perfume of kirsch, Black Forest cake, ripe plums, violets and molten licorice, followed by wafts of underbrush, raspberry leaves and graphite, plus a hint of clove oil. The medium to full-bodied palate already offers beautiful balance and expression at this nascent stage, featuring bright, crunchy red and black fruits with remarkable energy and tension. Its amazingly plush, silken texture carries all these shimmering flavors to a very long and fragrant finish. This jaw-dropping expression of 2020 is simply stunning.
The blend this year is 40% Cabernet Franc and 60% Merlot, due to be aged 18-22 months in French oak barriques, 100% new, and two new foudres. The wine has pH of 3.65 pH and an alcohol of 14.5%.
"This is a vintage we like a lot," said Hubert de Bouard. "It's like a super 2001. There are wild flowers-like violets-in the wine. It is a very harmonious vintage."
Side Note:
"The first part of the season was very wet with high mildew pressure," Hubert's daughter, Stephanie de Bouard-Rivoal, CEO and co-owner of Chateau Angelus, added. "We are still in organic conversion, so this was challenging. The second part of the year, we were in drought. But we have clay across the vineyard. It worked like a tank of water. After two months with no rain, we were worried, so we dug in the ground in the vineyard. The clay two meters down was still wet and fresh!"
"The style of 2020 is-well, maybe some people pushed it too much," Hubert said. "The skins were very thick. The risk was too much. A few wines have a little bit too much extraction. We kept the fermentation temperature low and were very gentle. We are getting more precision with the tannins. We wanted the least intervention."
"We are looking to bring more pixels to the image of the wine," Stephanie said. "The introduction of large oak foudres allows us to limit the oak impact and dissolved oxygen. We are aiming to age 60% in the foudres in the future. We don't want anything filtering or hiding the fruit."
Then, I asked Stephanie about the Cabernet Franc, which provides a remarkable kind of shimmer to the blend this year. "We were very surprised to have a revelation with the Cabernet Franc when we were doing the blends. The Merlot we called 'sublime,' but we thought the Cabernet Franc a little shy to begin. Then it came through. Yes, the Cabernet Franc truly shines through this year!"
Decanter
Point Score: 97
Supple damson fruits, I love the aromatics on this and the striking fruits. Silky in texture, balanced and elegant, there are big tannins that slowly but surely creep up on you through the palate. This is a sleek, poised, and confidently-constructed Angelus, with depth to the olive, chocolate, cassis body and a crushed mint leaf kiss on the finish. As often with this vintage it is not an exuberant hug, it is more about discreet power and gorgeous stealing-up of flavours and textures giving depth and subtle power. 3.62pH, aged in large sized oak cass and oak barrels. A yield of 37hl/ha.
James Suckling
Point Score: 98-99
This is wonderfully refined and balanced with such pretty depth. Full-bodied and so polished and pure. Subtle at first, then it takes off and keeps coming. Sophisticated. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc.