Chateau Angelus 2015

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Everything is coming up roses here, in the nose. That is before finding all the truffle, espresso, dark chocolate, black cherry, smoke, spice and plums on the nose. Rich, dense and concentrated, the wine is voluptuous, ostentations and sexy. The velvet tannins feel just great as the wine flows over your palate. The finish just keeps on going. Opened in the name of science, this will start really rocking in about 2027."

JAMES SUCKLING: "A great wine with superb concentration and richness. yet it's ever so agile and polished. Spices, blueberries, cinnamon and dried flowers. Full body and polished and full tannins. Great length. The refinement to the tannins is amazing. Compacted. Essence-like. Needs five or six years to open. Try in 2025."

JEB DUNNUCK: "A total blockbuster is the 2015 Angelus and it’s reminiscent of a slightly more elegant 2009. Made from 62% Merlot and 38% Cabernet Franc brought up in new barrels, this rich, opulent beauty boast killer notes of blackcurrants, blackberry liqueur, truffle, chocolate and scorched earth. With full-bodied richness, building, ripe tannin and a stacked profile on the palate, this hedonistic Bomb of a wine from Hubert de Boüard needs 4-5 years of cellaring and will keep for three decades or more."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Angélus is a little closed to begin, soon blossoming into a wonderfully fragrant perfume of raspberry preserves, ripe black plums and chocolate-covered cherries with suggestions of Darjeeling tea, candied violets, spice cake and cinnamon stick with a touch of aniseed. Full-bodied, the palate is fabulously opulent, delivering mouth-coating black and red fruit layers with loads of floral sparkles and a seductively velvety texture, finishing with great length and tension."

WEINWISSER: "50 % Merlot, 47 % Cabernet Franc, 3 % Cabernet Sauvignon. Eine grosse Ernte mit mehr als 100.000 Flaschen. Extrem dunkles Purpur mit lila und violetten Reflexen. Grosses Bouquet, geprägt von reifen Cabernets, dunklen Röstnoten, pflaumigen Eindrücken, legt an der Luft permanent zu. Im zweiten Ansatz Cassis, Mokka, Lakritze und viel dunkle Edelhölzer. Im Gaumen eine mächtige Delikatesse, also von feinen Eindrücken bis hin zur Aromenpower ist die ganze Bandbreite da. Die Grundaromatik bewegt sich zwischen blauen bis schwarzen Beeren, die Tannine reich aber auch schon angerundet, aber auch verlangend, der Nachklang ist und bleibt auch noch lange schier überaromatisch. Ein grosser spannender Angélus mit einer grossen Spannung. Ich fand hier viele Parallelen zum 1998er und so kann dieser 2015er vielleicht auch einmal bei der Maximalwertung landen."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This wine is structured, powerful and ripe but also elegant and stylish. Juicy black fruits combine with a dry, structured core to give the wine both its richness and its future. Powered by its fruit and tannins, it has good aging potential. Drink from 2027."

DECANTER: "A vintage that favoured St-Émilion, and they have made the most of it at Angélus. There are signals of a hot year in the black cherry, cinnamon and fresh fig notes, given depth and complexity with cassis, cigar box, crushed stone and a freshly-crushed mint leaf finish, along with a tingling minerality that cuts through the exuberance and concentration of the vintage. Harvest September 22 to October 14. New cellar as of 2014 also. Drinking Window 2024 - 2045"

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung, intensives dunkles Beerenkonfit, feiner Nougat, ein Hauch von Lakritze, kandierte Orangenzesten. Komplex, Brombeeren, reife Kirschen, straffe Tannine, würziger Abgang, mineralisch und anhaltend, sehr gute Frische, lebendiger, saliner Stil, Herzkirschen und Orangen im Finish, gutes Zukunftspotenzial."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Dense, dark and muscular, featuring waves of warmed fig, plum and black currant paste that roll in with warm ganache, baker's chocolate and espresso accents. A huge swath of smoldering tobacco is brewing on the finish, which has a brooding feel, thanks to tannins that hit like a thunderclap at the end. If you've got time to wait... Best from 2028 through 2045."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Very dark crimson – glowing. Very seductive. Sweet and gorgeous. Massive, juicy, inky and fresh. Added later: better than most recent vintages of this wine."