Angélus 2012

The 2012 Angélus (55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc) is inky bluish purple in color and exhibits blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with some licorice, charcoal and graphite. It is full-bodied, ripe, and a great, great success for this estate. The tannins are silky and soft, and the wine can be drunk now or over the next 15 or more years. Very tiny yields of 34 hectoliters per hectare rendered a wine with 14.5% alcohol. Drink 2015-2030.

Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux tasting. The 2012 Angelus does not offer the same level of complexity as its peers at the moment. This is (surprisingly for Angelus) conservative and backward. There is a touch of seaweed developing with time but otherwise the message of the aromatics is: come back later. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle grip, sultry and broody, somehow quite intriguing, a saturnine Saint Emilion that may be interesting to revisit in a decade's time, since there is appreciable depth and structure here. Tightly-coiled, long-term, serious. Tasted January 2016.

Wet earth, blackberry and blue berry character on the nose. Full body, chewy tannins and a tangy finish. Needs time to soften. Tight and structured red. Better in 2018.

Clear depth of fruit expression at 10 years old, blueberry, black cherry, raspberry, liquorice, cocoa bean, with grilled cedar oak still dominant but welcoming, adding glamour, confidence and depth to the flavour without being overwhelming. This is a brilliant wine, succulent and at the begining of a long drinking window. This was the year that Angélus was promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé A, in a move that it turned out would only last a decade until they withdrew from the classification, giving an extra frisson from this vantage point.

Inky with black core. Sweet charred oak is the first impression. And the second. But there is finesse to the tannins and some nice (hidden) dark fruit. Firm grip on the finish and just about fresh, though it is very hard to judge this wine now when the oak is all dominant. Tannin texture is very fine and I am sure this will become elegant if you can be patient enough and wait for the oak to subside. Too oaky for my taste but I know it will be admired by others. (JH)

Hubert de Bouärd said that the pricing decision for his 2012, post-promotion in the Saint Emilion classification, was one of the hardest he has ever made. My feeling is that, while the wine is good, it doesn't quite reflect the hike. It's an ambitious Angélus with lashings of toasty oak, good concentration, focus and plenty of fruit, but it seems a tad figgy and over-ripe. Drink: 2020-35