Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: The Angel’s Share
Having kicked off this report on St Emilion 2012 with one recently promoted building site, Château Pavie, it seems only appropriate to progress on to the next. Was major building work a prerequisite for elevation in the 2012 edition of the St Emilion classification, I wonder? It seems so, as Château Angélus, which with Pavie joined Château Ausone and Château Cheval Blanc on the ‘A’ rung of the classification last year, has been covered in scaffolding and tarpaulins for at least a year now.
Château Angélus
Having timetabled a visit to Château Angélus on my tasting day in St Emilion, I was disheartened to see that, when I received confirmation of my appointment, the tasting was being held at Hubert de Boüard de Laforest’s property in Lalande-de-Pomerol, La Fleur de Boüard. As such, it might have been better to schedule it at the end of my Pomerol tastings, as I did with Cheval Blanc, for example, which sits facing Château L’Évangile and is Pomerol in all but name. Of course, it was silly of me to even worry about it; the journey from Château Ausone, my prior appointment, to La Fleur de Boüard took barely ten minutes. As I had allowed myself a rather generous hour for the tasting, I had plenty of time to taste some of the wines being poured here, from other properties where Hubert consults.
