Angélus 2018

The aromas are incredibly complex with dark berries, elderberries, bay leaves, cloves and tile, follow through to a full body with layers of creamy and lightly dusty tannins that deliver a lingering finish and great attention to detail. The flavors range from black fruit to earth and stones. It’s reserved and poised with great intensity and power, in a toned and formed mode. One for the cellar. Try after 2026.

Tasted blind at Southwold 2018. Deep ruby colour. Rich, bready fruit akin to summer pudding on the nose. This is juicy, with fleshy fruit, yet retains some finesse. The palate has fine-grained, ripe tannins and sumtuous red fruits together with bright acids and creamy spices from the oak. A sumptuous and crowd-pleasing style.

A blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet franc, the 2018 Angelus is deep garnet-purple in color. It spills out of the glass with exuberant notes of cherry compote, plum preserves, and blueberry pie, followed by suggestions of Chinese five spice, potpourri, and dark chocolate, with touches of rosehip tea and underbrush. The palate is super concentrated, rich and opulent, framed by firm, velvety tannins and amazing tension, finishing with epic length.

This is rich and complex from the very first nose, showing dense brambled fruit with real precision of expression. After a few minutes the aromatics explode, leaping out of the glass and giving an extra level of enjoyment to the wine. In the mouth, lovely vibrant tannins grip without any sense of urgency, joined by curls of woodsmoke and salt taffy through the finish. It's gorgeous and will make you smile with its mouthwatering finish.

Only the oldest Cabernet Francs, aged between 60 and 80 years, went into the grand vin in 2018, meaning a little less Cabernet Franc in the blend than usual. But these old vines, planted by Stephanie de Boüard's grandfather, are rich in flavour and give saline emphasis to the finish. It's the first year that they have worked entirely organically, with a 32hl/ha yield from the harvest, which ran from 24 September to 11 October.

A cold soak before fermentation was used to extract the colour and fruit flavours without too much tannin. The wine is aged in 100% oak barrels and, for the first time, a few amphorae.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2042

Tasted blind. Big, bold, very ripe. Sweet and charming with some floral notes. Really glossy and fun. Lifted and lively. Even though not the most concentrated. A little bit of heat on the end. 14.5%
Drink 2028 – 2045

Inky core with purple rim. Refined aroma of restrained dark fruit and a mineral freshness even with the evident oak. More oaky on the palate, a touch of char, but much more restraint overall compared with earlier vintages, the restraint coming via the tannins. Power and freshness combined, with intensity and with a big charge of tannins but well handled to balance the whole in this powerful vintage. Needs a lot of time, to unfurl and for the oak to recede.
Drink 2028-2043

A bright purple colour in the glass, the nose exudes the ripe cassis that we have come to expect from Angelus, yet there are also floral overtones - dried violets and roses - with more subtle, savoury oak spices that show a move away from the richest elements of the past. The palate follows in the same vein; the fruit is ripe, juicy and dense, offering full bodied bramble fruits. However, there is lift, bright acidity and integrated, subtle spiciness to the oak. The tannins are more refined, giving a glossy texture and smooth, polished mouthfeel. This feels approachable, and the floral notes add to the sense of refreshment despite the warming, ripe fruit character that is still at the core. Finishing pure and long, this is a slight departure that we very much enjoy, while retaining the essence of the Chateau's style.

The grand vin, the 2018 Angélus, is magical juice in 2018 as well as possibly one of the wines of the vintage. While it shows a slightly more elegant style compared to past great vintages, it doesn’t lack for depth, density or richness. Thrilling notes of crème de cassis, toasted spice, graphite, incense, and tobacco leaf all flow to a full-bodied, powerful Saint-Émilion that has seamless tannins, a stacked mid-palate, no hard edges, and a finish that just won’t quit. Reminding me of an improved 2009, it’s going to be drinkable with just short-term cellaring and keep for 30 years or more. The blend of the 2018 is 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc that will spend 18-22 months in new barrels (and a small portion in foudre as well). Hats off to director Emmanuelle d’Aligny-Fulchi for keeping this estate at the top of the hierarchy in Saint-Émilion!

Very gutsy in feel, with lots of tobacco leaf, loam and espresso notes swirling around a core of steeped black currant and warm fig fruit flavors. The muscular finish is a jumble right now, but there's ample acidity coiled within. A wine that clearly wants to stand out from the pack.

This is a wonderful Angélus with masses of oak and fruit and it can handle this intensity with ease. The power is magnificent and the richness and weight is amazing, too. Considering how tannic and oaky a lot of the other wines are on this side of the river, they could all take a leaf out of this wine’s book because it shows you just how carefully balanced a big wine can be. There is some exoticism here as well as awesome length and this is certainly one of the finest Saint-Emilions of the vintage. I was delighted to taste this wine this year, because I missed my appointment late one afternoon and flew past the following day only to be confronted with monsoon conditions in the carpark and a looming, lengthy drive to Graves for my next tasting only 45 minutes after I pulled into Angélus. So, apologies for my brief tasting note and apologies to the Angélus representative who I almost knocked over on the stairs as I rushed, dripping wet, out of the tasting room. As karma would have it I earned a speeding ticket and a 90 euro fine, on the next leg of my itinerary, for my sins!