Chateau Angélus - St. Emilion 2014 (1500mL)

97 POINTS

Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast

Effectively half-and-half Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this is a tremendous wine. With very fine tannins, spice from a touch of wood and swathes of ripe fruits give this wine its concentration and its huge potential. The wine has weight and a dark, dense structure that will allow it to age for many years. Drink from 2027.

96 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

The 2014 Angélus is now really beginning to blossom. It has an outstanding bouquet with plush but delineated black cherry and cassis fruit, crushed violet and just a hint of pencil lead. There is wonderful focus here. The palate is medium-bodied with tightly knit black fruit, graphite and spice. There is weight and presence, but it is effortlessly counterbalanced by the freshness and acidity, whilst the finish if extraordinarily long. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

96 POINTS

Jane Anson - Decanter Magazine

An Indian summer vintage (as well as the 30th harvest for Hubert de Boüard), this wine is young and closed right now. There's austerity on the attack but the ageing potential is clear in every ripple. Given time in the glass, the spiced cinnamon and toasted cherry-pit notes become more evident, along with intense but fresh blackberry and damson fruits, and the balanced generosity that's such a signature of the property.

95 POINTS

Wine Spectator

This has a dense, muscular core of warm blackberry, black currant and fig paste flavors, shrouded under a cloak of tobacco and loam. Not shy on toast and balanced by a hefty ganache edge, this isn't heady at all, just a terrific expression of the muscular, loamy style. Best from 2026 through 2040. 8,335 cases made.

94 POINTS

Neal Martin - Wine Advocate

The 2014 Angelus has developed with some panache during its barrel maturation and now in bottle, it conveys attractive blackberry, briary and vanilla pod aromas, the oak neatly integrated. It is not the most powerful bouquet that Hubert de Boüard de Laforest has ever overseen, though it offers precision and focus. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a crisp line of acidity, quite compact and linear in the mouth with a subtle oyster-shell note that tinctures the black fruit towards the persistent finish. It is no showstopper, yet there is craftsmanship and terroir-expression here and it should drink well for two decades.

94 POINTS

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - Wine Advocate

Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2014 Angélus needs a fair bit of coaxing to begin to reveal very pretty aromas of lilacs, kirsch, redcurrant jelly and Black Forest cake plus nuances of graphite and menthol. The palate is delicately intense with soft spoken floral and earth notes complimenting the black fruits, supported by ripe, rounded tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long with compelling restraint. Sporting a good amount of tertiary nuances, it can be enjoyed right now, but make sure to decant it a good 1.5 to two hours prior to drinking.

Jancis Robinson MW

Tasted blind. Mellow, gentle, sweet, milk-chocolate notes. Easy to like with a bit of heat on the end. But it too lacks real persistence. Bit of char and lots of sweetness and spice. Score: 17.5/20

Jancis Robinson MW

Not that deep a crimson. Warm and sufficiently but not excessively ripe nose. Then quite noticeable acidity on the palate. I wouldn’t immediately identify this as a first growth if served blind but it does build impressively on the finish, à la bourguignonne. Quite long but certainly not rich. The acid and light tannins seem almost more obvious than the fruit. Score: 17+/20