Chateau Angelus, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2009

Another absolutely brilliant showing for this wine, which I've rated perfect on every occasion I've had it. Reminding me of the 1990, the 2009 Château Angelus is picking up more complexity today and has a deeper garnet/ruby hue as well as an incredibly expressive bouquet of sweet red and black fruits, tobacco, flowery incense, and spice, with what might even be a hint of truffle. Medium to full-bodied, rich, and concentrated on the palate, yet weightless, balanced, and seamless, this is just an absolute stunner of a wine. It has another 20-30 years of prime drinking ahead of it. Drink 2026-2056.

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.

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.

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.

If you've ever eaten really good British Christmas cake then you know what this lavish 2009 St.-Emilion smells and tastes like. Every bit as rich as it is polished with a long moderately dry finish packed with powdery tannins. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

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.

Deep, saturated ruby to the rim. Superripe, high-toned aromas of kirsch and dark chocolate. Large-scaled, ripe and chocolatey, conveying a distinctly exotic character and an impression of power. Finishes with huge but ripe tannins and a lingering note of mocha. For the first 24 hours in the bottle the vintage dominated the wine's cabernet franc character, but eventually blackberry, violet and licorice elements emerged. Built for a long life in bottle.

(60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc; pH 3.77; 14.5% alcohol; IPT 92) Deep purple. Very deep, enticing aromas of cassis, blackberry liqueur, dark chocolate and violet, with some oaky torrefaction notes of espresso and mocha; seems a bit more merlot-dominated than usual. The palate boasts outstanding intensity and freshness to the black fruit and smoky oak flavors, with a firm spine of acidity giving the wine necessary backbone. Finishes horizontal and long, with building, youthfully aggressive but ripe tannins. In a modern, extractive style, but with much better grip, focus and verve than many other similarly made wines. It's hard to believe, but t his is the 25th anniversary vintage for talented owner Hubert de Bo u ard, who is increasingly in demand across the Bordeaux region as a winemaking consultant.