Four Vintages of Château Angélus, 2019
It is now about seven years since Château Angélus, under the direction of Hubert de Boüard de Laforest, was promoted to the very top tier of the St Emilion classification. You might think that having achieved what many thought was the impossible, this exalted position having been enjoyed solely by Château Ausone and Château Cheval Blanc for so long, that Hubert might be content to sit back on his laurels.
Of course nothing is further from the truth. While the estate is today run by his daughter Stéphanie de Boüard-Rival and nephew Thierry Grenié de Boüard, Hubert remains as involved and as interested as ever. And the domaine continues to develop, as evidenced by recent announcements that the property was beginning a conversion to organic viticulture, and that the family plan to build new cellars dedicated purely to the production of the estate’s third wine, No. 3 d’Angélus, moves built on the back of Hubert’s successes.
Perhaps in keeping with its position within the region, Hubert, Stéphanie and family decided to open the primeurs week in April 2018 with a grand dinner, and to pour some special vintages of Château Angélus. I was happy to accept their invitation.
The Wines
Although I will focus here solely on the wines, the dinner itself deserves mention. Hubert drafted in three talented chefs, Christophe Bacquié, who has three Michelin stars for his cooking at the Hôtel du Castellet, Gilles Reinhardt, another three-star chef from the Auberge du Pont de Collonges, and Alexandre Baumard, who cooks at the Logis de la Cadène (which Hubert and his family own) in St Emilion, and who has one star. Suffice to say the dishes served were nothing short of immaculate.
