Ringing endorsement: Anson’s pick of Angélus vintages

Château Angélus 1GCC 2001 98

£306 (ib)-£370 Crump Richmond Shaw, iDealwine, In Vino Veritas, Vintage Wine Gifts

Easily one of the most impressive Bordeaux 2001s you can find. Full of liquorice, lashings of textured chocolate shavings, smoked earth and black truffle – powerful, fragrant and intense. Grilled almond smoke on the nose as it opens, a wine that keeps on delivering. Very few bottles of this left at the estate, and it is worth savouring. 100% new oak. Drink 2021-2040 Alcohol 13%

Château Angélus GCC 1989 98

£360 (ib)-£610 Cru, Crump Richmond Shaw, Delivery Wine Co, Farr Vintners, JF Tobias,

Morgan Classic

Even at 32 years old, the tannins are dense, even chewy, still with so much power. Here you get pure black truffle along with olive paste, raspberry, enveloping violet and peony notes with some white pepper spice. ‘Only’ a grand cru classé at the time, which shows just how much potential this site always had. Just 50 bottles left at the estate, recorked in 2019.

Drink 2021-2038 Alc 13%

Château Angélus 1GCC 2009 97

£275 (ib)-£395 Balthazar, Berry Bros & Rudd, Bordeaux Index, Fine & Rare, Handford, Laithwaites, Starling Wines, The Holland Park Wine Co, VinQuinn

Intense chocolate and turmeric spices hit you right from the first moment. This is richly textured, with a palate that is still almost primary fruit – an intense and impressive wine, with blackberry and black cherry fruits dominant, given balance and freshness by eucalyptus and mint leaf, helped no doubt by the Cabernet Franc that is such a signature of Angélus. Plenty of swagger, vintage taking precedence over terroir at this stage of its life, and I suggest giving it another few years in bottle before drinking.

Drink 2022-2048 Alc 14.5%

Château Angélus 1GCCA 2012 96

£300 (ib)-£610 Arden, Berry Bros & Rudd, Bordeaux Index, Christopher Keiller, Cru Wine, Crump Richmond Shaw, Delivery Wine Co, Millésima Grilled cocoa bean and smoked earth, coupled with black pepper, blueberry, raspberry purée. Beautiful precision, primary fruits that feel similar to the 2009, with a confident tannic frame that is wrapped in silk. Late harvest that only began on 12 October, making the most of the brilliant late season. The year of promotion to premier grand cru classé A.

Drink 2022-2044 Alc 13.5%

Château Angélus 1GCC 2007 94

£245-£268 (ib) Crump Richmond Shaw, JF Tobias, Wilkinson Vintners

Intense and enticing campfire smoke, showing beautiful rich fruits behind the grilled aromatics, open and just about ready to begin drinking. A lighter vintage in general across Bordeaux, but you see how Angléus overdelivers in these years, combining blackberry, redcurrant and blueberry fruits with orange peel and white truffle. Drink 2021-2042 Alc 13.5%

Carillon d’Angélus 2016 94

£68.34 (ib)-£116.67 Asset Wines, Berry Bros & Rudd, Crump Richmond Shaw, Justerini & Brooks, Millésima, Morgan Classic, Uncorked Still young, far more so than the 2015, and you really see Carillon d’Angélus taking a step forward in precision – something that has been maintained since this vintage. A touch of reduction at first on the nose quickly clears to show plump black cherry fruits, liquorice and spices. They were looking to pick slightly earlier at this point to increase the freshness and ageing potential, and you can see the results. A brilliant-quality Carillon with huge sculpting and potential. 70% new oak. Drink 2022-2038 Alc 15%