CHATEAU ANGELUS 1er Grand Cru Classe A, Saint-Emilion 2023 Bottle

Château Angélus, a prestigious wine estate in Saint-Émilion, has produced the remarkable 2023 vintage, receiving exceptional accolades including 96-98 points from James Suckling and 97 points from both Decanter and Vinous. This blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc showcases a brilliant display of fruit with intense aromas of cassis, cherries, and dark berries, complemented by floral notes and hints of mint and cedar. The palate is medium to full-bodied, featuring finely polished tannins and a balanced freshness, delivering a firm structure and a long, elegant finish. The wine reflects the evolution of Angélus under Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, focusing on precision and refinement. With a drinking window from 2030 to 2050, this vintage promises both immediate enjoyment and great aging potential.

*****

THE WINE ADVOCATE (95-96) points
Reviewed by: William Kelley
A classic blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, the 2023 Angélus reflects this estate's continuing evolution with regard to ripeness, extraction and élevage choices, offering up attractive aromas of dark berries and plums mingled with hints of mint, potpourri, rose petals, vine smoke and orange zest. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and supple, with a velvety attack that segues into a core of pure, pillowy fruit framed by supple, powdery tannins, it's cool and harmonious, concluding with a long, perfumed finish. This is a terrific effort that foregrounds the vintage and the terroir at their best.

Since taking the helm at Angélus, Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal and her team, inspired by the terroir transparency of the wines of the 1950s, have been boldly evolving toward less impactful winemaking. What does that mean in practice? Cooler macerations, élevage that now incorporates foudres for the grand vin and tanks for Tempo, No. 3 and Carillon, reducing the impact of new barriques without the loss in precision that often comes from repeatedly reused barrels—along with, I'm sure, a host of other smaller changes that cumulatively mean that Angélus today is a very different beast from the rich, toasty wine of the 1990s and early 2000s.

The 2023 vintage has delivered wines with quite low pHs, with the team opting to harvest comparatively early to preserve freshness. Long cold macerations were followed by cool fermentations, with a maximum of 22 degrees Celsius, and the wines were barreled down clean and cool. Technical director Benjamin Laforet compares the vinifications in 2023 to a long-exposure photograph and compares the resulting wines with the estate's 2001s.

JAMES SUCKLING ***** 97-98 points
9 Apr, 2024 – The transparency of fruit and the finesse is really something here. There’s depth and beauty to the pristine, fresh fruit. Full-bodied and muscular with wonderful tannins that provide tension and form. Subtle and weightless, this is a thought-provoking young wine. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc.

DECANTER 97 points
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at Château Trotte Vieille, 12 Apr 2023)
Drinking Window: 2030 - 2050
Gorgeous nose, floral and scented with roses and violets, expressive strawberries and raspberries and some herbal elements. Full and filling, but soft and smooth, almost crushed velvet in texture. It’s not so tense and straight but has a solid backbone of freshness and plush fruit but very cool. It’s more on the structured side than overt acidity, serious but still with crunchy blueberries, chalky blackcurrant, lots of graphite and minerality on the finish. Less fruit forward than some but layered with complexity - a subtle opulence. Fleshy ripe tannins with mouthwatering acidity adding a serious touch. It’s missing that Angelus hug on the mid palate, but I like it a lot and you can’t fault the refinement and precision on show. It’s got body, length, tannins, crunch, freshness, and a vein of minerality underpinning the expression. 3.65pH. Harvest September 14 to October 1.

VINOUS 94-96 points
The 2023 Angélus is elegant and polished right out of the gate. Floral top notes and bright acids bring out the more refined side of Angélus. The 2023 shows how much Angélus has evolved in recent years. Bright red-toned fruit, blood orange, mint and rose petal lend notable verve. The blend is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. About half of the Franc is being raised in foudre. All the elements are so well integrated for a young wine. It is one of the best recent vintages I have tasted. - Antonio Galloni. Tasting date: April 2024.

“Two thousand twenty-three was the warmest year ever in France, but not in Bordeaux,” Hubert de Boüard stated emphatically. "We had mildew pressure in the spring and a cold summer until the end of August.” All that may be true, but what stands out most at Angélus these days is a greater focus on precision in the winemaking and farming.

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ABOUT CHATEAU ANGELUS
Château Angélus, located in Saint Émilion on Bordeaux’s Right Bank, is one of the region’s most celebrated estates, renowned for producing voluptuous, terroir expressive wines that combine opulent fruit, silkiness and remarkable ageing potential. The property occupies calcareous clay soils enriched by limestone plateaux and gentle slopes, sites that favour Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the two varieties that define Angélus’s distinctive, aromatic profile. Longstanding attention to parcel selection, vine age and rootstock and clonal choice ensures that each plot contributes its particular character to the final blend, while controlled yields and rigorous canopy management concentrate flavour and preserve freshness.

In the winery traditional craftsmanship is united with exacting modern technique, grapes undergoing meticulous sorting and careful handling before fermentation in temperature controlled vats, where extraction is adjusted to the character of each parcel to achieve balance between tannin, colour and aromatic lift. Élevage is carried out in French oak, a considered proportion of which is new each vintage, adding structural support and spice while respecting varietal purity and site clarity. The estate’s historic cellars and continuous investment in technology and cellar management reflect a commitment to consistency and the highest standards of quality.

The Grand Vin of Angélus is typically noted for a plush, perfumed bouquet of ripe red and black fruit, violet and floral lift, complemented by layers of spice, graphite and saline mineral notes, all framed by velvety, finely grained tannins and lively acidity. On the palate the wine combines density and elegance, offering immediate charm yet rewarding patient cellaring as tertiary complexity unfolds. Second and limited reserve cuvées provide earlier approachability while reflecting the estate’s stylistic emphasis on balance, precision and depth.

Through sustained investment in vineyard renewal, meticulous parcel work and a philosophy that seeks to express the limestone terroir of Saint Émilion, Château Angélus continues to stand among the appellation’s leading producers, crafting wines that marry expressive aromatic intensity with structural refinement and lasting cellar potential.