- Colour Red
- Producer Château Angélus
- Region St Emilion
- Grape Merlot / Cabernet Franc / Cabernet Sauvignon
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
2022 - Ch Angélus 1er Grand Cru Classé St Emilion - 6x75cl
- Colour Red
- Producer Château Angélus
- Region St Emilion
- Grape Merlot / Cabernet Franc / Cabernet Sauvignon
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
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Neal Martin, April 2023, Score: 95-97
The 2022 Angélus was cropped at 40hL/ha. It is aged partly in foudres (around half the Cabernet Franc, to be exact) and the remainder in new barrels, the Grand Vin with 14.45% alcohol and 3.65 pH. This takes a few minutes to unfold in the glass. Blackberry, iris petals and crushed stone notes are focused and delineated. There's opulence locked into these aromatics, but that is contained. The palate is medium-bodied with a mineral opening. Graphite and fresh tobacco thread through the layered black fruit, perhaps spicier than recent vintages. A gentle grip on the finish has some wood tannins to resolve, which should be addressed during its élevage. This will need several years in bottle, probably a decade; then I envisage this Saint-Émilion soaring. Drink 2028-2050
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Wine Advocate, April 2023, Score: 96-98
This estate's shift in the direction of gentler extraction and more reductive, less overtly oaky élevage continues, and this extreme vintage only underlines that. Fermented at cool temperatures (20 to 23 degrees Celsius), and with an increasing proportion of the wine's Cabernet Franc component matured in large wooden foudres, the 2022 Angélus wafts from the glass with deep aromas of dark berries and cherries mingled with hints of iris, licorice and pencil lead. Full-bodied, deep and seamless, with a layered core of cool, vibrant fruit, powdery tannins and a long, saline finish, it's a brilliant young wine in the making. The 2022 is a blend of 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.
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James Suckling, April 2023, Score: 98-99
So many beautiful primary fruit aromas. Al dente. Peaches. Very floral. Aromatic. Full-bodied and extremely fine tannins with length and beauty that show incredible depth. Superb brightness and reality. Exciting. Cabernet franc freshness and dynamics come through now, even though the blend is 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc.
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Jancis Robinson, April 2023, Score: 17.5+
Purple-black hue. Dense, dark and spicy. Beautifully textured, the tannins ripe and smooth. Plenty of lift and no exaggeration. Firm, long and crunchy on the finish. Substantial but measured. (James Lawther MW) 14.5%. Drink 2030 – 2048
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Jane Anson, April 2023, Score: 97
Precision and freshness here, with fennel, aniseed, marzipan, cassis, incense, cigar, black cherry, mint leaf and ink, with a slow build of subtle aromatics, and a cooling uplift on the finish. An exceptional wine that will reward long ageing, but captures the luscious, exuberant quality of the vintage without ever stepping over the line. 100% new oak for the barrels, with 20% of the production (Cabernet Franc only) to be aged in larger oak casks. Organic farming (with their own farm growing produce for their restaurants and for vineyard treatments). This vintage also shows one of the benefits of leaving the classification, which has become official as of 2022 - the de Boüard family is able to expand the footprint for the main wine of Angélus this year with 3ha of Château Bellevue (which has now been officially split and passed entirely back into the hands of the co-owners the de Lavaud family), which brings some cool soil Merlot into the blend. Harvest September 6 to 28. Drink 2029-2046.
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Jeb Dunnuck, April 2023, Score: 97-99
Looking at the Grand Vin, the 2022 Château Angélus is based on 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot that will spend 22 months in new French oak, with a portion of the Cabernet Franc aged in foudre. This estate doesn't put a foot wrong, and this is clearly a profound Angélus with a deep purple, almost blue hue, extraordinary notes of cassis, blueberry liqueur, acacia flowers, and scorched earth, full-bodied richness, building tannins, and a dense, concentrated mid-palate, all of which is grounded by a vibrant sense of freshness and purity. While older vintages were more closed and backward on release, this has a certain accessibility given its balance and purity, and I suspect it will offer incredible pleasure right out of the gate. It will evolve for 40+ years as well.
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LPB, April 2023, Score: 98-100
The 2022 Château Angélus is made up of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc with a pH of 3.65. Deep garnet-purple colored, it prances out of the glass with flamboyant notes of red currant jelly, wild blueberries, cassis, and candied violets, followed by suggestions of jasmine tea, star anise, and crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate is impactful from first sip, yet slowly expands in the mouth, ultimately over-delivering on the nose's promise with layer upon layer of perfumed black and red fruits, supported by super fine-grained, silt-like tannins, finishing long and achingly shimmery. Drink 2029-2065.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2023, Score: 19.5+
The Cabernet Franc vines at Angélus did not suffer during the summer at all thanks to their deep roots, and, come harvest time, the pickers could wait until the optimum moment to bring the bunches in. Angélus is rightly obsessed with this magical grape, and its part played in this wine is tremendous. The deeply powerful grape skins and ripe tannins needed to be tempered and controlled, so the winemaking techniques at Angélus in 2022 were as gentle as possible. This means that the tasting sensation is one of gradual and determined augmentation of flavour. All of the action sits at the back of the palate, and it starts quietly and gently and then inflates gently like a hot air balloon of flavour broadened and extending across the palate. The fruit notes are supercomplex and hugely layered, and there is no drop-off or pause in the persistence of these flavours. While this is already an impressive wine, it will surely be regarded as a genuinely iconic vintage for Angélus. The oak notes are measured and commanding, and even though the fruit is robust and dark, the oak fanfare is already stunningly integrated. This is a super-polished wine with every molecule facing the same direction, and I learned that it was patently clear, at harvest time, that this stood the chance of being a legendary vintage for Angélus, and it seems to me that none of this potential was lost in the winery.
Producer
Château Angélus
Owned by the de Bouard de Laforest family for years, it is only since the mid 1980s that this château has truly hit its potential. Hubert de Bouard, with the assistance of consulting oenologist, Michel Rolland, is making some of the finest wines in St Emilion. The château is particularly notable for producing excellent wines even in challenging vintages which for many is the true testament of quality.
Region
St Emilion
South of Pomerol lies the medieval, perched village of St Emilion. Surrounding St Emilion are vines that produce round, rich and often hedonistic wines. Despite a myriad of soil types, two main ones dominate - the gravelly, limestone slopes that delve down to the valley from the plateau and the valley itself which is comprised of limestone, gravel, clay and sand. Despite St Emilion's popularity today, it was not until the 1980s to early 1990s that attention was brought to this region. Robert Parker, the famous wine critic, began reviewing their Merlot-dominated wines and giving them hefty scores. The rest is history as they say. Similar to the Médoc, there is a classification system in place which dates from 1955 and outlines several levels of quality. These include its regional appellation of St Emilion, St Emilion Grand Cru, St Emilion Grand Cru Classé and St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé, which is further divided into "A" (Ausone and Cheval Blanc) and "B" (including Angélus, Canon, Figeac and a handful of others). To ensure better accuracy, the classification is redone every 10 years enabling certain châteaux to be upgraded or downgraded depending on on the quality of their more recent vintages.
