Château Angélus, St Emilion, 2009
A candidate for one of the finest Angelus produced to date (and there have been many, including 1989, 1990, 2000 and 2005), this blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc was fashioned from tiny yields of 20 hectoliters per hectare. It boasts a black/purple color along with a gorgeous perfume of blueberry liqueur, spring flowers and graphite. In the mouth, notes of incense and cassis also emerge from this velvety-textured, full-bodied, intensely concentrated 2009. With silky tannins, low acidity and spectacular purity, texture and depth, it is already approachable (although I’m sure proprietor Hubert de Bouard would think drinking it now is akin to infanticide), but should keep for 20-30+ years.
critic reviews
Visually and aromatically this is opulent, with glass-staining purple alongside smoked spice, cumin, incense, crushed liquorice and rocks, mocha, tobacco, blackberry, fragrant spice box and toasted plums. There is tension through the palate also, and this is at the very beginning of its drinking window, with decades ahead of it. 100% new oak for ageing. Emmanuel Fulchi technical director. Harvest September 23 to October 14 with a gap in between the two grape varieties. These were the years where Angélus was beginning to keep more stock back at the estate, but still not a lot left, and it is not an easy vintage to find - but you will be very happy if you do.
A blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, the 2009 Angelus is deep garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It swans out of the glass with gregarious notions of Indian spices, kirsch, blackberry pie, and plum preserves, leading to wafts of candied violets, licorice, and clove oil. The full-bodied palate is so, so plush, jam-packed with multi-layered black fruits, finishing very long and beautifully fragrant.
The 2009 Angélus has a very refined bouquet with a mixture of red and black fruit, quite lavish in style with hints of crushed violet developing in the glass. You cannot help but be taken by the purity of this Angélus. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe and supple tannin, well judged acidity, beautifully balanced with supremely well integrated oak towards the finish. This is a wonderful Angélus that should give another two or three decades of drinking pleasure. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' Ten Year On tasting.