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Angélus 2015

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Franc

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Label

Tasting Notes

A great wine with superb concentration and richness. yet it's ever so agile and polished. Spices, blueberries, cinnamon and dried flowers. Full body and polished and full tannins. Great length. The refinement to the tannins is amazing. Compacted. Essence-like. Needs five or six years to open. Try in 2025.

99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2018

The 2015 Angelus is Stephanie de Bouard-Rivoal’s first vintage as CEO. It is a blend of 62% Merlot and 38% Cabernet Franc and has a deep garnet color. It sashays out of the glass with gloriously opulent notes of Indian spices, sandalwood, and dried roses, with a core of stewed black and red plums, kirsch, and dark chocolate, plus a waft of licorice. Full-bodied, the palate is still tightly wound, delivering beautifully ripe, silt-like tannins and great freshness to frame the generous black and red fruit layers, finishing long and perfumed.

98
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, November 2022

Tasted blind. Very dark crimson – glowing. Very seductive. Sweet and gorgeous. Massive, juicy, inky and fresh. Added later: better than most recent vintages of this wine.
Drink 2025-2043

18
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2019

A total blockbuster is the 2015 Angelus and it’s reminiscent of a slightly more elegant 2009. Made from 62% Merlot and 38% Cabernet Franc brought up in new barrels, this rich, opulent beauty boast killer notes of blackcurrants, blackberry liqueur, truffle, chocolate and scorched earth. With full-bodied richness, building, ripe tannin and a stacked profile on the palate, this hedonistic Bomb of a wine from Hubert de Boüard needs 4-5 years of cellaring and will keep for three decades or more. 2022 - 2052

97+
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, November 2017

Power and depth on the nose the palate has black fruits cassis and black cherry backed by dark chocolate. Velvety smooth supple the tannins are fine the ripe fruit giving a sumptuous richness and although sweet and ripe at the back the finish is streamlined spicy and mineral. 2024-40

95/97
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2016

Higher in alcohol than the 2014, but much more refined, this is a wine that’s made to last, showing plenty of oak and abundant fruit flavours supported by acidity and filigree tannins. Complex, spicy and aromatic, with lovely barrel integration and a poised, full-bodied finish. One of the best Angélus of recent years. Drink: 2022-35

96
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, April 2016

Very deep and very dark, this wine seems to flirt with danger but it confidently manages to avoid any mishaps. The oak,
alcohol and power are all impressive and the balance is true in spite of the dimensions. This is a very skilful balancing act
eliciting vinous oohs and aahs from my palate. It would be a shame to drink this any earlier than 2035 such is the potential
majesty here - it just has to lose a lot of tannin and excessive dry oak notes before you wield your corkscrew.

18.5+
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2016
Read more tasting notes...

The 2015 Angelus is a blend of 62% Merlot and 38% Cabernet Franc, picked from 22 September finishing on 14 October. "We found a nice homogeneity with the Merlot lots," I was told when I visited. "The old Cabernet Franc was very nice, but the younger vines were blended into the second label. This year, it is especially the Merlot that lends a lot of harmony to the wine. This year, the Merlot have some of the qualities of the Cabernet Franc, the precision and freshness. They give the generosity and sweetness." The wine was aged in 100% new oak at 11 degrees Celsius so they could add less sulfur to keep the freshness of the aromas and maintain the elegance of the wine. It offers a complex array of aromas such as black cherry, camphor, oyster shells and Japanese nori, beautifully defined and very focused. The palate is medium-bodied but powerful with layer of svelte tannins and a keen thread of acidity; layers of black fruit laced with spices, baking powder, mint and white pepper. It feels long in the mouth, insistently clinging for a minute after the wine has departed. Oh là là. This is a sexy, but compelling Angelus, fit for "007" and wine-lovers everywhere. Drink: 2025 - 2060

95/97
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (224), April 2016

This shows the purity of Angelus. I have never tasted a wine from here with such incredible clarity. Full body, full fruit and full beauty. Super silky tannins. A joy to taste. Makes you want to drink it. 62% merlot and 38% cabernet franc.

99/100
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2016

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Angélus is a little closed to begin, soon blossoming into a wonderfully fragrant perfume of raspberry preserves, ripe black plums and chocolate-covered cherries with suggestions of Darjeeling tea, candied violets, spice cake and cinnamon stick with a touch of aniseed. Full-bodied, the palate is fabulously opulent, delivering mouth-coating black and red fruit layers with loads of floral sparkles and a seductively velvety texture, finishing with great length and tension. 2023 - 2050

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (October 20), October 2020

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! 2023 - 2050

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (Interim Fe), February 2018

Extremely dark purplish crimson. Light nose but masses of sweet concentration on the palate. Nothing exaggerated. Just rather drying tannins on the end at the moment. Like Carillon d'Angélus, it has a slight bitterness on the finish but has clearly been made with no shortage of ambition. For the long term.
Drink 2027-2040

17.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2016
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.