Chateau Angelus Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Premier Grand Cru Classe (A) 2014

This great vintage started with a tricky spring and a difficult summer, but we were fiercely resolved not to give up and to read the vines and understand their needs. Then from 25th August onwards, day after day of lovely weather came along and our confidence returned. We took risks and waited to start harvesting. Finally October arrived, golden, warm and magnificent, enabling us to delay picking the old Merlot vines for a few days and wait for the Cabernet Franc grapes to ripen fully. This vintage has a very pure, elegant nose. The attack is clear, and the wine progressively gets bigger, reaching a very sophisticated balance between the magnificent quality of the tannins, substance, tension and freshness. There is 50% Cabernet Franc in the blend, which elevates the elegance of the wine’s tannic structure and makes the finish complex and long.

This vintage didn't have much promise, although flowering had gone well.

Spring had been tricky, summer was hard, we had nothing but doubts except the fierce resolution that we would not give up and that we had to read the vines and understand their needs. We were continuously worried that the fruit would not be able to overcome the August rainfall and the September storms. Then from 30th August onwards, day after day of lovely weather and our confidence returned. We took risks and waited to start harvesting. Every day, we asked:

Do we start picking? No, we wait!

Finally, we picked the first Merlot grapes from the young vines on 2nd October, a golden month, warm and magnificent. The weather was so good, we delayed harvesting the old Merlot vines for a few days and waited for the Cabernet Franc grapes to ripen fully. This is how fickle calendars can be. A situation I had never seen before in my whole career as a winegrower! An ideal autumn for harvesting that just went on and on.

Who's the Indian? Nobody, but the summer was...