This is so pure and aromatic with a level of complexity and refinement for the vintage that few have. Sweet tobacco, flowers, herbs and stone with underlying richness of fruit. It opens on the palate to a full body that is tight and reserved with an extremely focused tannin mouth feel. Length and excitement at the end. Very polished Angélus. A blend of 70% merlot and 30% cabernet franc.

Blushing fruits, forest floor, truffle, mint and smoke fashion a bouquet that is enough to get you hooked on this outstanding creation. However, if you need more, the velvet textures, parfait of sweet red and black fruits, spice box and a sensuous finish seals the deal. The wine was made from blending 70% Merlot with 30% Cabernet Franc. With 13.5% alcohol. The harvest took place September 13-September 29. The Grand Vin was made from 80% of the harvest. Due to the, frost, close to 20% of the vineyard was damaged.

The top wine here is terrific, and the 2017 Chateau Angelus is in the top two or three wines on the Right Bank. Checking in as 70% Merlot and a full 30% Cabernet Franc, it shows the slightly more elegant, polished style favored at the estate these days yet still packs ample richness and depth. Deep purple-hued with awesome creme de cassis-like fruit as well as plenty of unsmoked tobacco, new saddle leather, white truffle, and white chocolate aromas and flavors, this beauty is medium to full-bodied, has ultra-fine tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. This is a wine of power and elegance. You could be excused for drinking bottles even today, but ideally, it should be given 7-8 years of bottle age, at which point it’s going to evolve for 25-30 years.

Some frost impact (seen in the 70% Merlot and lower Cabernet Franc than usual), but clearly not getting in the way of success, this Angélus has flesh, texture, depth of colour and plenty of succulent autumnal fruit. Without the concentration of the biggest years but still full of quality, clarity, precision. Tried in both bottle and carafe, which gave an excellent insight into how it will age - the aromatics come through more clearly after just 10 minutes in the carafe, and the width and depth to the blackberry and blueberry fruits increase, as does the tension through the palate. Hangs on too, this is good. Drinking Window 2025 - 2040
Tasted by Jane Anson (at Pavie, 11 Feb 2020)
Part of Top Bordeaux 2017 wines in the bottle: Right Bank report

The flagship wine of Hubert de Bouard, Angelus was upgraded to Grand Cru Classe 'A' in 2012. This is a step change from the previous style, with more restraint and gentle extraction and more of a focus on precision, juicy fruit, and layered minerality. Ripe plum, red cherry, a hint of orange citrus and exotic spices. There is still plenty of oak here which is evident in the mocha, taosty notes but in no way does it subsume or override the fruit, which is elegant, spicy and intense. - April 2018

Composed of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Angélus wafts slowly, sensuously out of the glass with notes of warm red currants, Black Forest cake, blackberry compote and pencil shavings with nuances of rose oil, black tea, cloves and cumin seed. The medium-bodied palate is wonderfully elegant and refreshing, sporting very finely grained tannins and layers of red and black fruit preserves, finishing long with mineral fireworks. What a beauty! LPB

In 2017, Angélus leans much more toward finesse than power. Dark cherry, chocolate, spice, leather and mint are all finely knit. The 2017 was just bottled the month before this tasting - normal by the château's standards but late for the Right Bank. Today, the 2017 is powerful, brooding and closed, especially in its aromatics. My impression is that it needs time to recover from its recent bottling.

This is jazzed up a bit, with dark anise and black tea aromatics leading off, followed by juicy blackberry, boysenberry and bramble notes. Has some flashy spice on the finish and some expensive-feeling toast, but everything is in lockstep as this moves along. - James Molesworth, winespectator.com, April 2018

The 2017 Angélus was bottled later than many Right Bank wines, in fact just 10 days prior to my visit in late September '19. Proprietor Hubert de Böuard reminded me that there is less Cabernet Franc in the blend (30%) due to the frost, the estate electing to use the first generation fruit from their historical parcels. It has a very pure bouquet that is totally different from the Deuxième Vin, as you would expect, with scents of black cherries, wild strawberry, cassis and black truffle. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. The 100% new oak is nicely integrated into the black fruit laced with chestnut, tobacco, bay leaf and clove. There is decent body to this Angélus. It feels a little tight and constricted towards the finish, but I appreciate the contribution of the Cabernet Franc. It will age with style. www.vinous.com

Inky crimson. Redolent of classy and spicy oak but the fruit fragrance is there too, waiting to emerge after the chocolate dies back. A fine note of graphite and Cabernet Franc leafy (but fully ripe) freshness. Spicy and fresh on the palate. Rich and finely textured, with the oak giving way to the fruit on the palate. Very good balance even at this early stage. Savoury dark-chocolate, clean finish. - Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com, April 2018