This is the third wine from Château Angélus produced by Hubert de Boüard de Laforest in the 2007 vintage. The vines used to grow No. 3 d’Angélus are cultivated with the same care as those used to make its elders and their fruit is vinified with the same precision. The yields are larger and the wine is aged for a shorter period with no recourse to new wood: only one- or two-year-old barrels are used. This young wine can be decanted for 2-3 hours, or more allowing it to soften and open its perfume.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Medium ruby
Aroma: The nose is fresh and bright, leaning heavily towards the red fruit spectrum, particularly cherries, cranberries and plum. Some currant, vanilla pod aromas with a hints of smoke, licorice and cocoa.
Palate: Medium-bodied, again with the fresh red berries and a lovely line of acidity that makes it very drinkable and more-ish. A lot more depth and intensity that one would expect from the merlot. Some mineral and herbal notes there too but still quite young and primary. Gently tannic towards the back end that gives it a seriousness and longer finish than perhaps one might expect for Angelus ‘third’ wine.
Grape Varieties: 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
History of Chateau Angelus
Less than a kilometre from the famous Saint-Emilion bell tower, situated on the much-vaunted south-facing “foot of the hill”, Angélus has been the life work of eight generations of the Boüard de Laforest family.
In the first-ever classification of Saint-Emilion wines in 1954, Château Angélus was a Grand Cru Classé. Already at the time, it benefited from a solid reputation, which helped it survive the Bordeaux wine crisis of 1973. This was the context in which Hubert de Boüard de Laforest, a graduate oenologist from Bordeaux University, took advantage of this marvellous wine’s illustrious past, while being resolutely turned towards the future and launched and continued to implement an ambitious, innovative policy in favour of achieving excellence in wine growing and making.
In the most recent revision of the appellation’s classification, in 2012, Angélus was awarded the highest possible rank of Premier Cru Class A, alongside Cheval Blanc, Ausone and Pavie.