98
Jeb Dunnuck Tasting Note
The flagship from this great estate, the 2020 Château Angelus is a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc that spent 22 months in new barrels. It’s darker and more concentrated than the 2019, offering beautiful, medium- to full-bodied aromas and flavors of redcurrants, black raspberries, sandalwood, spring flowers, and smoked tobacco. With near-flawless balance, it’s not the blockbuster style of a decade ago, but it shows gorgeous purity, ultra-fine tannins, a round, seamless mouthfeel, and a great, long finish. It’s very much in the classic, balanced, structured style of the vintage, and 7–8 years of bottle age are recommended. It will deliver 30+ years of prime drinking.
98
Vinous Tasting Note
The 2020 Angélus is shaping up to be tremendous. Bright and punchy, with terrific energy, the 2020 is more linear and focused than any recent vintages I can remember tasting. Crushed red berry fruit, iron, smoke, mint, chalk and dried herbs all build in the glass. In 2020, Angélus is less flashy than it can be. That is a very good thing, for those who can wait. Harvest took place between September 18 to 30. One of the major evolutions here in recent years has been the use of foudres to age the Cabernet Franc. Half of the Franc is now raised in large format oak, and that seems to bringing added freshness to the Grand Vin.
99
James Suckling Tasting Note
Blackberry and plum character with chocolate, too. Oyster shell. Full and very firm with a linear sensibility. Tight and powerful. Very pure fruit. Tension and energy there. Polished tannins. Some coffee bean and chocolate.
100
Wine Advocate Tasting Note
The 2020 Angélus has an opaque purple-black color, drawing you in with a captivating perfume of kirsch, Black Forest cake, ripe plums, violets, and molten licorice, followed by wafts of underbrush, raspberry leaves, and graphite, plus a hint of clove oil. The medium- to full-bodied palate already delivers beautiful balance and expression at this nascent stage, featuring bright, crunchy red and black fruits with remarkable energy and tension. Its amazingly plush, silken texture carries all these shimmering flavors to a very long and fragrant finish. This jaw-dropping expression of 2020 is simply stunning.
The blend this year is 40% Cabernet Franc and 60% Merlot, due to be aged 18–22 months in French oak barriques, 100% new, and two new foudres. The wine has a pH of 3.65 and an alcohol level of 14.5%.