A Masterpiece by Château Angélus

It's not an everyday event that a new wine is introduced by a major Bordeaux producer.  Last Friday, Château Angélus unveiled its new creation: Hommage à Elisabeth Bouchet (A Tribute to Elisabeth Bouchet) 2016.  Behind the wine is a rather beautiful love story in the family.

Elisabeth Bouchet was the great-grandmother of Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, current CEO of Chateau Angélus, co-owner of the property with her father Hubert de Boüard de Laforest.  Stephanie’s great-grandfather, Maurice de Boüard de Laforest, planted Cabernet Franc grapes extensively on his property in honor of his beloved Elisabeth Bouchet.  Bouchet, as it turns out, is well-known on the Right Bank as the other name used to call Cabernet Franc, a well planted grape varietal in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol.  It is the Right Bank's equivalent of the Left Bank's Cabernet Sauvignon, which gives wine its bones and structure.

Maurice left behind two small parcels on the Angélus property exclusively planted with Bouchet.  The vines are now 60-80 years old.  This new wine is made exclusively from 100% Cabernet Franc sourced from these two parcels.  The owners intend to make this special cuvée only in the best years.  2016, as a banner year for Bordeaux, yielded 6 barrels of this new wine for its début.  2017 saw none produced, due to the frost damage in the spring of that year.  2018 gave birth to 5 barrels.

Colin Hay, a professor of Poli Sci in Paris who writes for the wine trade, shouted out: "It’s a shame that covetousness is a deadly sin.  For this is a wine that I covet... It is incredibly young, but already intensely beautiful.  It is difficult to resist already, it will definitely outlive me and I suspect the 60-80 year old vines have produced a wine that will age for at least that long.  A magical experience, a privilege and a perfect homage."

Lisa Perrotti-Brown at The Wine Advocate calls this "A Masterpiece!" after rating it 100 points.

Instantly, the wine has been snatched up among collectors.  This is not an everyday wine, we have very few bottles left.