2023 Angelus

The 2023 Angelus is seriously impressive. Readers will find a wine of notable textural intensity and resonance. Dark-fleshed fruit, new leather, lavender and dried herbs race across the palate. The 2023 is pliant and expansive, with gorgeous mid-palate depth and a long, sustained finish. It was an unusual year, one marked by an early harvest for the Merlots and a late harvest for the Francs. The Merlot saw 70% new wood, while the Franc was aged in equal parts foudre and smaller French oak barrels, some new, some once-filled. This is an important vintage for the Grand Vin.

The 2023 Château Angélus is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc that’s fermented in its individual parcels and isn't blended until very late. It's very much in the more fresh, focused, precise style of this château and has a beautiful nose of ripe black raspberries, cassis, spicy wood, melted crayons, and tobacco. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Angélus with remarkable purity, ultra-fine tannins, and beautiful overall balance. It's certainly not the biggest or richest Angélus, but it has incredible purity, focus, and elegance.

The nose pops with its bouquet of flowers, mint, tobacco leaf, licorice, and black cherries, The essence in this wine it its purity balanced with its racy, freshness. The finish delivers soft, long, energetic, red berries with nuances of espresso, chalk, crushed stone, cherries, plums, and cocoa. There is depth, and concentration but the wine feels light on its feet. The Cabernet Franc makes an impression in 2023. The team was nervous about the vintage until the first days in September before they knew the vintage was going to be special. The key to the vintage was in part due to longer fermentations at cooler temperatures, which never rose above 22 Celsius, along with no sulfur during the fermentations which aided the wines elegance and purity. The wine blends 60% Merlot, with 40% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% ABV, 3.65 pH. Harvesting took place, September 6 - September 28.