The Angélus style results from the combination of bold decisions on vine varieties and an outstanding terroir. It is this unique character born of the south-facing Saint-Emilion slopes with its large proportion of Cabernet Franc that we are so pleased to meet over and over again as the vintages pass by. It is also a composition re-crafted every year in a continuous quest for excellence.
AN OUTSTANDING TERROIR
A great terroir is more complex than you might think. It is not just the land, the earth, its natural capacity to drain away water and retain humidity – limestone or clay – the proportion of different elements in it that make it warm or cold soil, rich or poor ground, well-balanced or lacking. It is also the way it is exposed at the head of a valley, on a slope or at the foot of a hill, which creates little places that can be absolutely outstanding.
The vineyard at Angélus grows in a natural amphitheatre on a south-facing slope of Saint-Emilion and at its foot, where the summer temperatures are concentrated and where growth starts earlier. The soil is naturally drained by the slope. A good distribution of limestone and clay 8- to 20% proportion provides a regular supply of water and minerals. The vines’ rootstocks are ideally suited to this terroir and the vine varieties are distributed according to the soil types: Merlot on the hill, where there is more clay and Cabernet Franc on the sandy clay-limestone soils at the foot of the hill.
