Producer

Château Angélus

SUMMARY

Also known as Château L’Angélus or simply L’Angélus, is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Saint-Émilion, ranked among the grand crus classés for red and white wines in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. The winery is located on the Right Bank of France’s Gironde department in the commune of Saint-Émilion. The vineyard was founded as a monastic property between 1150 and 1170 by monks descending from nearby Fontfroide Abbey, but passed into secular hands under Philip IV at an unknown date before 1240 when it became a fiefdom held first by Perrinet de Berbezilhac then to Alain le Roux after 1380. In 1632 Jean III d’Estournel purchased the property and was selling wine under its own name as early as 1646. It remained in that family until it was acquired by Jean-Baptiste Bouscaut, owner of Château Pavie. The estate is currently owned by Édouard Mabileau who has made a number of improvements including building a new cellar and replanting part of the vineyard to emphasize quality over quantity and moving towards biodynamic methods L’Angélus second wine L’Envol de l’Ange (“the Angel’s Flight”) is produced from younger vines on the same terraces used for producing the grand vin.

Out of all of the vineyards in the St. Emilion appellation, Château Angelus has one of the longest wine-producing histories in the area. The estate has been producing wine since 1660 when it was purchased by the Jesuits. It became a part of their “cure” or parish, and they continued to produce wines until 1791 at which point ownership changed hands to Jean-Baptiste Bouscaut who then sold the property in 1815 to Louis Eschenauer who greatly expanded production from 15 hectoliters to more than 70 hectoliters per year. In 1922, Elisabeth Bouchet, the second wife of Maurice de Bouard de La Forest, purchased what would become the beginnings of the estate and the rest is history. The name Château Angelus comes from the fact that the bells of not one, but three churches can be heard by grape pickers working in the vineyard. The real history of excellent wines being produced at Château Angelus starts in 1955 when Hubert de Bouard took over the running of the estate. The planting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc was increased to more than 50% in the vineyard. The Château also began to use techniques such as fermenting with whole berries, ageing on the lees and the introduction of a second wine. In 1985, Bernard de Bouard took over from his father and has continued to improve the quality of Château Angelus with biodynamic viticulture and learning about organic agriculture in Burgundy. The Château produces around 8,500 cases of Chateau Angelus vintage every year. The wine itself is best described as a blend of richness and velvet textures, with tasting notes of blackcurrant and cassis. The château itself is an 18th-century building, which was then extended in the 19th century with a large cellar to store all of this magnificent wine.