Château Angélus

The château

Angélus lies at the foot of the Saint-Émilion slope, a south-facing natural amphitheater about 1 km from the town’s tower, within earshot of the bells of 3 churches. In the 19th century this land was printed as Mazerat: Saint-Martin de Mazerat is one of the communes that William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, folded into the name Saint-Émilion in his editions of 1845 and 1853, and a survey of the Libourne wines of 1897 lists 5 separate holdings there, one of them in the same family since 1610. The name Angélus came only in 1920, when Maurice de Boüard de Laforest added a parcel of 3 hectares called l’Angelus, and the bell has been on the label since.

Jean de Boüard de Laforest settled in Saint-Émilion in 1782. The 8th generation, Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, has run the estate since 2012, the 3rd woman at its head in nearly 250 years, with her father Hubert, an enologist, and Jean-Bernard Grenié, co-director since 1987. Angélus was a Grand Cru Classé in the first classification, the decree of October 7, 1954 followed by the list of June 16, 1955, and was raised to Premier Grand Cru Classé A in 2012. On January 5, 2022 it withdrew from the classification, and it holds no rank in the list of 2022.

The property covers 131 hectares, 65 of them in Saint-Émilion, and the grand vin (the estate’s first wine) comes from about 30: sandy clay and limestone at the foot of the hill and heavier clay higher up, planted in a way unusual for the commune, 50% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, vines 38 years old on average, for about 90,000 bottles. Carillon d’Angélus, which dates from 1987, is the second label, a wine in its own right rather than a second wine; N°3 d’Angélus, a Saint-Émilion, is the second wine of Carillon, and Tempo d’Angélus, from 2019, a Bordeaux. The 2012 was bottled without a paper label, its lettering in gold relief on the glass, and the Chai Carillon of 2019 works by gravity, with 18 vats shaped as inverted truncated cones.

Hommage à Elisabeth Bouchet, a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru of pure Cabernet Franc, comes from 2 small parcels at the foot of the slope, on vines 60 to 80 years old. The first vintage was 2016, released in September 2021, and it is made only in the years that deserve it: there is no 2017 and no 2021. Elisabeth Bouchet, Stéphanie’s great-grandmother, was Maurice’s wife, and her surname is the old Saint-Émilion name of the cabernets, already in print there as bouchet in 1868; Maurice planted much of the estate with Cabernet Franc in her honor. At Castillon-la-Bataille, a few kilometers east, the family makes Clos du Milieu, a Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux from a single plot of Merlot, and 2 whites under IGP Atlantique: Blanc du Milieu, of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, and, since 2020, the Grand Vin Blanc, of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc are allowed in no Bordeaux appellation.

Since 1995 each vintage of the grand vin has carried a name of its own: L’Harmonie (1995), La Grandeur du Cabernet Franc (1996), La Gourmandise (1997), La Subtilité (1998), L’Inespéré (1999), L’Équilibre (2000), L’Élégance (2001), La Précision (2002), L’Oriental (2003), Le Savoureux (2004), L’Impétueux (2005), Le Bordelais (2006), Le Charme (2007), Le Classique (2008), Le Baroque (2009), L’Opulent (2010), Le Ciselé (2011), Le Premier (2012), L’Appétant (2013), L’Indien (2014), Le Magnifique (2015), Le Rayonnant (2016), L’Éclatant (2017), Le Phénix (2018), Le Flamboyant (2019), Le Sublime (2020), L’Inattendu (2021), Le Majestueux (2022), L’Affranchi (2023), L’Imprévisible (2024) and L’Irrésistible (2025).

I tasted the 2025 at the estate in April 2026, in its newly renovated cellars, and ripeness, structure and polish were already in place: a complete wine at the very start of its life. Tempo sits at the other end of the house. The 2023, which I tasted in January 2026, is supple and fruit-forward, fresh red and dark berries with a touch of spice, made to be poured without ceremony.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, at the foot of the slope

Classification

Premier Grand Cru Classé A in 2012; withdrew on January 5, 2022; Michelin Guide, 2 grapes (2026)

Owners

The de Boüard de Laforest family, since 1782

Direction

Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, since 2012; Jean-Bernard Grenié, co-director, since 1987

Vineyard

About 30 hectares for the grand vin, of 65 in Saint-Émilion and 131 in all; vines 38 years old on average

Soil

Sandy clay and limestone at the foot of the slope, more clay above Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 50%, Cabernet Franc 47%, Cabernet Sauvignon 3%

Cellar

The Chai Carillon of 2019: 18 vats, worked by gravity

Production

About 90,000 bottles

Wines

Château Angélus; Carillon d’Angélus; N°3 d’Angélus; Tempo d’Angélus; Hommage à Elisabeth Bouchet; Clos du Milieu; Blanc du Milieu; Grand Vin Blanc