Château Angélus vertical tasting Looking at the wines of this top-ranking Saint-Emilion
property with owner Hubert de Boüard
This was a really interesting session, hosted by
the Institute of Masters of Wine, with celebrated
Bordeaux property owner and consultant winemaker Hubert de Boüard
(pictured above), looking at a range of recent
vintages of Château Angélus. Hubert was born at Angélus, the family
property in Saint-Emilion, on 1 July 1956. His grandfather had
bought Angélus back in 1921, although his family had been vignerons
in the region since 1782, with Hubert representing the seventh
generation. He went to school in Libourne and qualified as an
enologist in 1977, having studied under Ribereau-Gayon and Peynaud.
After this he worked in Burgundy, the Rhone and the USA, did a stage
at Figeac and then began working at Angélus in 1980. He took over in
1985, and this year will have run the property for 30 years.
In 2012 Angélus, along with Pavie, received the accolade of being
promoted to the select group of Saint-Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classé
'A', both properties joining Cheval Blanc and Ausone at this level.
As well as his own family domaines, which includes Angélus and
Château La Fleur de Boüard in Lalande de Pomerol, Boüard has a
thriving consultancy business, with 64 current clients (see
www.hubertdebouardconsulting.com).
‘I consider myself as a farmer,’ began Boüard. ‘My father gave me
secateurs to prune vines when I was seven years old. What we do in
the vineyard is so important for the quality of the wine, but it is
not enough just to have great terroir.’
Boüard describes Cabernet Franc as ‘the signature of Angelus’, and
it usually makes up between 40 and 45% of the blend. ‘I have fallen
in love with Cabernet Franc,’ he says. ‘We have 15 hectares of
Cabernet Franc, and 10 of these are over 65 years old.’ But it’s not
an easy variety to do well: Boüard describes it as the most
difficult grape variety in Bordeaux. ‘You need 20-25 years of vine
age before you can think about making a great wine from it,’ he
points out. ‘If you have more than 30 hl/ha you can’t make grand vin
with it, although you can with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. I am
not a fan of very low yields, but I have never taken a high crop
from Cabernet Franc.’
It’s also fussy about terroir. ‘It is a great variety when you don’t
have too much clay. It needs between 10 and 15% clay. More than 15%
is too high and less than 10% is not enough. In warm vintages such
as 2003 it provides freshness and spiciness, and a long finish. It
is very important.’
Boüard’s goal in winemaking is harmony. ‘I always try to have a
harmonious wine. When I was a student with Emile Peynaud he told us
there were three important things in making a grand vin: harmony,
harmony and harmony. It is always something I try to reach.’ He adds
that, ‘management of the extraction is one of the top things for
catching the harmony in the wine.’
‘Wood is very important as a support of the wine, but if the wood
overtakes the wine, it isn’t great. But what is more important is
the lees. It is good to work with the lees because they naturally
protect the wine against oxidation and we can work with less sulfur
dioxide.’
‘If the lees are good you can keep the wine for 10 months with no or
very low sulfur in the wine. It protects the aroma and the quality
of the tannins. I am not against sulfites but if they are too high
you lose quality.’ Boüard ages Angélus on lees without racking for
around 12 months, and then the wine is racked and aged for another
10 months, so it spends 22 months in barrel altogether.
High alcohol? 'It's a problem now, making wines with high alcohol
levels,' he admits. 'As a farmer, I try to work with low alcohol,
but it is better when it is ripe.' Boüard claims that the human hand
is more to blame for high alcohol levels than global warming. People
are increasing the canopy size and waiting longer before picking.
But he says that ways of countering high alcohol in the vineyard are
increasing the planting density and reducing the size of the
canopies. 'I was a leader in increasing the leaves,' he admits, 'and
now I am a leader in dropping the leaves.' Boüard thinks that 14%
alcohol is OK, if he has freshness, but beyond this it can be a
problem. 'It is also a problem because alcohol is a solvent and aids
extraction. For this reason we work at the beginning of fermentation
and stop before the end. If you use oak, high alcohol gives greater
extraction of tannins. I don't care about MLF in barrel; I just want
to get the wine into barrel as soon as possible. If the wine is very
cloudy it extracts less from the wood, especially if you have high
alcohol.’ This was something he learned from Dominic Lafon in
Burgundy in the 1980s.
‘Cabernet Franc moderates the alcohol,’ he says, ‘It is very unusual
to get more than 13.5% alcohol in Cabernet Franc.’
‘We try to mix extraction methods. We use punching down for the
first day of fermentation and then stop altogether. Then we use
delestage, and then pumping over. From 1030 [specific gravity]
onwards we just wash the cap.’
In Fleur du Boüard he uses a new shape of vat, which is like an
inverted tronconique fermentation vat (truncated cone-like tank,
typical for fermentations in Bordeaux), with more surface of skin in
contact with the juice. ‘When you empty the vat the must presses on
its own weight,’ he explains, ‘and you have more tannins and the
best sort of tannins. Everyone prefers the wine with this sort of
extraction.’ But these innovations take a while to trickle through
to his top property. ‘We use Fleur du Boüard as a laboratory; we
work slowly at Angélus.’
He also discussed Brettanomyces, the common rogue yeast that gives
red wine animal, phenolic, savoury characters and strips it of
fruit. ‘Pre-maceration is key for the development of Brettanomyces,’
he says. ‘In the old days people would say that this is the typicity
of the wine. It is a very important period. You must do it below 10
°C or you could have the development of brett, and once this is in
the must you can’t remove it even with sulfur dioxide. If you use
dry ice this is not so good for cooling.’ This is because dry ice –
solid carbon dioxide – doesn’t cool evenly, and so some pockets will
be at higher temperature, some at lower.
Boüard is constantly doing research, and is currently involved in a
five year project to select yeast from his own vineyard to culture
and then use in future vintages. In 2014 20% of the wine was
inoculated with this specific cultured Angélus yeast, and in 2015 it
will be used for all the wine. ‘My goal is to make the wine as clean
as possible,’ he says. ‘The laboratory is my lifeline.’
He describes himself as pragmatic, not dogmatic. ‘Sometimes I will
do fining,’ he says, ‘I will see what works.’ Boüard points out that
fining eliminates about 90% of the yeasts and bacteria present, so
sometimes this is enough on its own, and filtration isn’t needed.
‘Fining isn’t just for the tannins, it purifies the wine.’ If he’s
not happy with the microbiological analysis then he will fine the
wine.
Boüard responded to the suggestion that Bordeaux has changed, and
that the new style is different to classic wines of the past. He
says that the wines are ready a bit earlier and the tannins are
better managed, 'But I think we have preserved the style of the
wine,' he says. 'The capacity for ageing these wines is good. I
haven't changed much since I started in 1985, and the 1985 is still
nice. I am not anxious about the ageing of the wines.' Boüard
referred to the ageing potential of old Bordeaux in a nice anecdote.
'When I graduated in 1977 my father invited me for lunch, and
brought a bottle of the 1945 Angelus.' he recalled. 'He opened the
bottle and said “Oh my goodness the wine is not ready now, we will
have to wait.'
THE WINES
Château Angélus 2012 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc. 14% alcohol, pH 3.8. Tight,
fresh, sweet raspberry and blackberry nose. Very aromatic: floral
with subtle green notes. The palate is focused and reined with firm
but smooth tannins. Structured and youthful, this is primary but
already has some harmony. |Lovely freshness and focus here. Linear,
tight and pure. Very appealing. 95/100
‘The Cabernet Franc was great in 2012.’ Bouard describes both 11 and
12 as classic Bordeaux, with no overripeness. He thinks 2012 is a
little more dense and charming.
Château Angélus 2011 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, 14.5% alcohol, pH 3.6. Fresh
with a subtle sappy edge to the dense red berry fruits. The tannins
are quite grippy and there's fresh acidity. Focused and bright but a
little angular, with nice raspberry freshness. Finishes grippy.
92/100
‘There's increased Merlot in the 2011 because we had to select the
Cabernet Franc more. For the Cabernet Franc you can wait as long as
you want: I've never tasted overripe Cabernet Franc. For Merlot you
have to pick at the right moment. I've tasted lots of overripe
Merlot.’
Château Angélus 2010 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc. 15.5% alcohol, pH 3.57. Sweetly
aromatic with black cherries and blackberries. Lovely focus on the
palate which is rich and quite extracted with fresh black cherries
and raspberries. There's a lushness to the fruit but it's not
liqueur-like or jammy. Grainy structure provides a foil to the sweet
fruit and there's good acidity. It carries its 15.5% alcohol
brilliantly. Primary and really impressive. 96/100
‘Two great vintages where everything went right. It is not the
technique that makes the wine, it is the vintage that makes the
wine. The weather conditions in Bordeaux influence the style of the
wine.’
Château Angélus 2009 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% alcohol, pH 3.8. Lovely
sweet black fruits nose with some warm autumnal notes as well as
ripe blackberries. Lush but fresh with very sleek ripe black fruits
on the palate. This has a lovely smooth mouthfeel with real purity
and freshness alongside the sweet, lush fruit. 94/100
‘This is a little bit more exotic,' says Bouard. 'You can feel more
the sun in the wine. The style is a bit more baroque than the 2010.'
He prefers the 2010 but emphasizes that he likes the 2009 a lot. 'I
think the balance of the 2010 is fantastic.'
Château Angélus 2008 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 58% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Franc. 14% alcohol, pH 3.62. Aromatic,
taut, fresh black fruits nose with a fresh raspberry and chalk edge
to it. Very fresh style. The palate is supple, bright and has lovely
fresh red and black fruits, with good acidity. A fine, bright,
classic wine with purity and focus. Taut and linear. 94/100
Bouard describes the 2008 as having a lot of classicism and
freshness. 'When we tasted it from vat it was a bit angular, but the
pH gave the vintage the identity. There are violets on the nose, a
lot of fruit. A good vintage.’
Château Angélus 2007 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 13.5% alcohol, pH 3.85, 62% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc. Some
spicy, autumnal notes on the nose as well as roast coffee, mint,
meat and some slightly animal characters. Spicy and a little rustic
on the palate with attractive blackberry fruit. A savoury, spicy
style. 89/100
With more Merlot, Bouard describes this as a soft, simple wine
that's ready to drink. It's a wine for lunch, he says.
Château Angélus 2006 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 14% alcohol, pH 3.7, 62% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc. Sweet,
warm, liqueur-like black cherry and blackberry fruits. Broad with
lovely soft texture and grainy, chalky tannins. There's some sweet
cherry pie character, too. Ripe and easy but has some nice
freshness, and it's drinking well now. 92/100
'The style is not the style of the 2008,’ says Bouard. ‘You can feel
the tannins at the end. It will need a few more years to get the
tannins completely integrated. We had some difficulties getting the
ripeness on the Cabernet Franc.’
Château Angélus 2005 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 14.5% alcohol, pH 3.63, 62% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc. Dense
and quite tannic with rich, sweet blackberry and red berry fruits,
with very firm, grippy tannins clamping down quite a bit. There's
lovely ripe, sweet, curranty, even slightly jammy fruit here but
also grippy structure and good acidity. It's quite impressive but it
hasn't come together yet and needs more time to integrate. The
tannins are quite fierce, but I can imagine that in a big line up
tasted blind this would impress because you wouldn't notice the
nature of the tannic structure as well. 93/100
Château Angélus 2000 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux Sweet, ripe aromatic nose with some spicy, slightly farmyardy
savoury notes in the background. Sweet blackcurrant and cherry
fruit. The palate is fresh and quite classic with some gravelly,
grippy notes under the black fruits. Beginning to evolve with some
animal characters, finishing quite spicy. It's really attractive,
albeit slightly rustic, and the brett (at least, what I suspect to
be brett) has begun to expose the bones of the wine a bit. 93/100
Here is a film
of the tasting, with Hubert in action:
