Earthy and muddy with sweet dark fruits and full-on extraction. In the mouth it just felt unbalanced, spicy and hot, primarily due to an excess of alcohol. Closer to a Chateauneuf-du-Pape than a claret, and not pulling my punches, I found this gaudy and monstrous. CHP 85 pts
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Phew, this wine is not ready. Decanted for let breathe for 5-6 hours and still it wasn't open for business. Very dark and dense fruit, chocolatey, you could certainly feel the alcohol. Nowhere near ready. But underneath it all you could feel the quality. This will be a great wine one day - but keep it for another 5-10 years.
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I approached my first bottle of this with some trepidation after a few other 2005 St. Emilions disappointed due to heavy overextraction and overripe fruit.
Immediately on opening the nose and palate hit me with raisiny sweetness, glossy ripe fruit, good acidity and tannins. I leave it alone in the glass for a couple of hours and the nose is much improved. Shy, backward, but at least not offputting. Very modern on the palate. I really don’t want this to be another boring overdone right bank 05, so I give it a continuance and stick it in the fridge for the next day.
Not expecting much today, the wine has really come around. Nose has dark fruits, cassis, cigar wrapper, a hint of moist earth. Medium-full body, with plenty of acid and tannin to balance the abundant fruit. No overripe or raisiny notes remain, no alcoholic heat. No complexity at this stage. That and the overnight improvement tell me this has potential to blossom. Excellent now with upside potential.
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Unlike most 2005s I've tasted over the past couple of years, I didn't have the chance to sit with this at home and follow it over a long period. So who knows, maybe it was open at the start and shut down, maybe it would have opened up in time. But over the couple of hours that I had it in the glass at dinner, it was brutally shut down. A big heap of fruit, shrouded in oak as young Angelus of this era is. Forbidding at the moment, demanding (not asking for) another decade.
4-hour decant, and didn’t really open up for another hour after that. Peak was at about 6 hours. Heavily dark fruit driven today, floral on the nose, but solid tannin structure. Ben thought it was close to one dimensional, but Margaret thought it had more going on, and was just young. Probably worth waiting another several years. Quite reminiscent of a big Napa cab today. Might have been much better on day 2, but we finished it :). Bit of a quaffer at this point. 94 today with upside potential.
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Popped this open bc its EP week, and Angelus was the first to shock the EP market w a whopping 32.5% increase in price over last year. A bit of over-reaching if you ask me.
Back to the wine though, rated 100 RP (and I agree). Opened and poured a tiny bit which was just so fresh and vibrant, despite, forced out of its sleep for 17 years. Over the next 2-3 hours it was acting as a well educated teenager, with fresh energy and radiance, but past the 3rd hour, became a bit broody, yet still a whopper of wine just the energy had faded and more tertiary flavours filled the glass.
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Very fine wine. Dark, no hint of ageing. Some considerable fruit on the palate; there was also presence of oak which slightly enhanced the fruit with moderate tannins and acidity to ensure perfect balance. Powerful finish. Perfect with steak.
my impatience is palpably obvious having burnt through nearly a half a case of this wine without it hitting prime time. Napa fruit worshippers would be advised to pop the cork and enjoy but for me, in spite of being 17 years old, the '05 Angelus is still rather primary. Raspberry and tannins are the sum total of what I managed to jot down, this wine has a gorgeous core of fruit waiting to express itself but as of today its still just an adolescent. HOLD.
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Slow ox for 2 hours. Less than a 1/10th of a teaspoon of sediment. Relatively thick an unpliable tannins, but they were pretty smooth. Black and blue fruits dominated with just a touch of slightly sour and tangy elements arising on the 30 second finish. Some sweet Oak and a faint touch of green veggies. A very interesting wine that I suspect will improve by a couple points over the next 5+ years.
Clear deep ruby/garnet; clean medium nose of cassis, raspberry jam, balsamic, old leather, musty/dusty books and fall cracked leaves; dry; high acidity; medium plus tannins; medium plus alcohol; medium plus body; pronounced flavour intensity; palate is tarter with addition of cocoa and dried flowers; long long finish; drink now or in 5 years; this is an absolute stunning wine; velvety and beguiling like an seductress slipping into your DM; finish was over a minute long; no decant; peaked around an hour after being opened
At Sumi, Noosa Junction. This wine opened beautifully with a rich nose of black and red fruits balanced by cedar, liquorice and dark chocolate. The palate reflects the primary fruits with layers of flavour balanced by savoury touches of tobacco, cedar and spice. While there is plenty of volume the balance is impressive with a fine long aftertaste. A wonderful conjunction of winery and vintage.
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20 Vintages of Angelus (1988-2015): All wines tasted single blind. A few observations and conclusions: It seems that until more recently, Angelus focused on late picking, big wines with too much extraction. Most pre 2004 wines we tasted did not show well and are drying out or already have. The younger vintages showed better but only time will tell if the 2004 to 2015 vintages will age more gracefully. An experienced Angelus collector mentioned a style shift towards more finesse right after the promotion to Premier Grand Cru Classe A with the 2012 vintage. It would have been great to include more of the recent vintages (we had only 09/10/14/15) to better understand when and to what extent that shift happened. Still, there are some very good wines with the 2010 being the WOTN (rated 96+ pts, the structuredness, freshness and purity of the vintage shines through), narrowly ahead of the 2008 (96pts, these 2008 right banks are singing these days and are incredibly fresh) as well as two wines with 95 pts, the 2005 (slightly closed but lots of complexity and no structural deficits) and the 2015 (showcasing the stylistic shift: there aren’t many 2015s out there that share the light- and airiness and perfect ripeness level and purity with their respective 2010 counterparts).
TN: Rather backward nose. Is not much there or is it hidden? On the palate this shows beautiful fresh and pure red and blue fruit, fresh forrest berries, some coffee notes. Quite fresh and luxurious. The freshness and lightness are highlights. Additional layers of herbs and minerality but dominated by the fresh fruit. Good structural frame without fault. Medium plus length. Not yet fully open for business, this got better by the minute and a second glass at the end of the tasting confirmed that. If the structure holds, this can become a 97+ pts wine. Today this is drinking on a 95 pts level.
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Angélus vertical (Fribourg): Angélus vertical of 20 vintages. Main observations were : 1/ Older vintages before the mid-2000s often suffered from drying tannin and showed a lot of extraction, 2/ Younger vintages quickly benefited from aeration hence decanting advised, 3/ the fruit profile became darker over time 4/ best vintage to drink today: 2004. All wines were directly poured with no prior decant and served in flights of 4.
Tasting note: Quite ripe and extracted and on balance a rather dark fruit profile. Quite densely built, creamily textured palate. Intensity even if not overly complex. Revisiting showed more fruit and freshness.
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Bottle was opened 12 hours before being decanted for 3 hours in a wide base decanter.
A kaleidoscopic wine, which possesses everything one can expect: Energy and balance, tension and sharpness, complexity and harmony, length and length. The sort of wine that leaves you speechless when drunk in good company with the proper food pairing (here with a perfect truffle risotto). Aromas of violet, pencil shavings, cigar box, blueberries, with hints of mocha and black truffle.
The missing point will for sure come with a further aging, as it is still in an early part of its long life. Flawless and glorious wine.
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5 hour decant with an additional 2 splashes before putting back into the bottle to take to the restaurant for a great meal with Joel and Diane. Food and company were exceptional, however this bottle not as great as previous. 93 pts initially even with all the decant, still a bit tight and astringent yet soft in the mouth at the same time. Red/dark red fruited. Some good layers to the fruit but no 'wow' there. Still some under cork in the bottle in the cellar to try tonight to see if there's any further improvement. Addendum to follow.
Addendum next night.....a little darker fruit, nose more classic, weight in the mouth a little heavier. Better by 2 points the first hour so now a 95. 2nd hour much more astringency shows up so going to hold the rest of these for many years.
Opened ten hours and decanted one hour before serving. Even after 16 years still dense, initially closed and young. Served alongside Cheval Blanc 2005 which is already more developed and mature. Gradually opening up with a massive wave of dark fruit. Decadent as well as elegant, velvety but very structured with a backbone of fine tannins. Roasted coffeebeans, lead pencil, cigar box. Multi-layered and endless on the palate. Impressive freshness and purity. No doubt this wine is heading for the perfect score. Completely on par with the Cheval Blanc with an even brighter future.
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Remarkably backward for the only “right-bank” wine in a flight of northern Medocs. Medium-dark red color. Harsh tannins almost completely mask the fruit at this stage. Very surprising. This needs a decade to sort itself out. Too young to accurately score numerically. Pulled cork 2 hours before serving.
From Mark’s 2005 Bordeaux Vintage tasting: Attended a 36 bottle 2005 Bordeaux wine tasting recently. The wine above is one of those wines. Served “ single-blind.” Tasted over a 2 day period, 18 wines per day. Day 1, all 18 wines were served with corks pulled 2 hours prior to tasting. Day 2, wines were double-decanted 2 hours before serving. Unsurprisingly, Day 2 wines were softer, displaying riper fruit flavors, and less tannic than those tasted on Day 1. Kudos to Mark for both a fantastic experience as well as providing an instructive opportunity on how the 2005 Bordeaux vintage is showing at this stage.
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2005 Bordeaux at 16 years courtesy of Mark Taylor; 6/26/2021-6/27/2021 (Atlanta, GA): Cherry, right bank? Gains a lot of depth with a plummy, fruit driven, cassis body. The purity of the flavor profile had me thinking about Lafite for a while, but you have to trust your first impression. My #2 and the group #2. Correctly guessed Angelus.
Even tough I’m a Napa guy and dislike most French wines (I know this sounds bad) yesterday’s Chateau Angelus was my factory wine at our monthly CWG blind tasting. Didn’t had that dirty feet smell, instead it was like roses and expresso, the palate was complex, berries, licorice, minerals with a hint of vanilla coming from the nicely integrated oak. All of this coming to a heavenly finishhhhh...
Youthful with dark rich fruit, jammy, floral and inviting. Youthful palate with bound up energy, minerals, fantastic length and verve. Infinite finish.
Very very youthful but not tight; can be enjoyed now but even better in 5-10 plus years. Still a baby!
Velvet in a bottle. This sans Cabernet Sauvignon grape wine is glorious and drinking perfectly. A delight for celebrating New Year's Eve at Thomas Keller's Surf Club in Miami Beach. The concentration is rich, ripe and regal! Kudos to the Boüard family for making an extraordinary Right bank 2005 beauty. The tannins blend exquisitely as the mouthfeel is layered, lingering and so VERY pure. The blue and black fruits blend in harmony inviting you to panoply of flowers, gourmet licorice from the Netherlands, and the finest coffee from Ethiopia. Think spectacular from nose to mouth feel, to swirl, to swallow, to savoring!
M&PD Zoom Tasting: Bordeaux (Zoom): Super young. My initial guess was a ridiculous 2016 just based on how primary and fruity this was. Dense. Just an absolute wall of decadent fruit. Blackberry. Super juicy. John hinted that maybe there was some coffee showing, and at that point (power of suggestion) there was clear espresso and coffee on the nose. It seemed like the clear and obvious Right Banker at that point.
A nearly flawless wine with highly concentrated dark fruit, cedar, with well integrated tannins. The wine is somewhat decadent but well balanced and not overdone.
You know, sometimes you have a wine and sometimes you have a wine that is just a Royal blast. Opened 6 hours before dinner, decanted and observed every hour or so after. Slightest of barnyard on opening, gone after an hour. Crimson red in the glass, picks up darker character and weight with each passing hour. Lots of leather and lead pencil, red fruit turns to black fruit (blackberry), it is tart early on and changes later. It is like crushed velour in the mouth, pleasant acidity for the long run, a touch of iron and herbs round it out.
Consumed over 2 days. Black and inky color. Primary nose of blackberry and spice maybe slightly medicinal. The palate is hard and impenetrable, showing lots of extraction and grape tannin. I was hoping after 13-14 years that this might be more open, but it is really dense and structured. Not pleasurable today.
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Schöne Nase, Tannine gut integriert, langer Abgang. Schöner Wein, aber kommt insgesamt nicht an die Erwartungen heran - weniger differenziert oder explosiv als Name und Jahrgang suggeriert.
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nose - raspberry mouth - slightly feral, funky, savory, complex dark fruit with a velvety mouthfeel. More complex and seemingly evolved than the 05 Pavie which we tasted immediately after.
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Château Angélus tasting with Hubert de Boüard (Wine Watch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida): This was a powerhouse wine. Still a baby, and I wouldn't touch this wine for at least five years (if not a decade). It's so dense, with a lot of intensity on the palate. This nose is dominated by ripe blackberry and blueberry, along with violets, fresh herbs, and coffee. Clearly one of the stars of this vertical tasting, but also the least evolved.
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Deep ruby. Alcohol dripping down the sides as you swirl the glass. A frightening 14.5% alcohol! Very creamy cherry fruit, touch of cherry float with floral spices. Touch of alcohol is noticeable but not totally distracting. I found this to be a bit over extracted and although the mid palate fruit is Kuah and fantastic, I was disappointed with the dry puckering finish. 96+ on the nose but time will not resolve over extraction. I feel this wine has been overrated on CT which I have rarely seen.
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Second part of our 9 year vertical, this paired with a duck breast over lunch. Perfect Bordeaux nose in the glass, reeks of quality and class. Beautiful structure, mellowing tannins with no harsh edges but still plenty of power to go a long ways....think 20 years easy. Beautiful classic ending.
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Rich and powerful. Fairly complex but still so young and primary. Blue and black fruits. Mostly blue fruit as the cab franc is coming out in spades. Fire pit and some light ash. This is an interesting wine for sure; well made and should last a very long time. Elegant.
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Clear, Darkest mauve with pink rim, slow-moving and sporadic thick tears. Clean, med+ intensity, with aromas of buckets of black berries, stewed plums and damsels, slight floral, pomegranate, tobacco, and tomato leaves. Dry, med body, med+ tannins, med alcohol, light acidity, with further tastes of mulberry, cassis, pu'er leaves, sweetened dark gravy, dark chocolate. Fabulous complexity but surprisingly still young. It opened up slowly but steadily. I have one other bottle in my home cellar and will look to open it in another 3+ years. Great finish.
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Sexy, sensuous, refined and with textures that are best described as cashmere, the aromatically intense experience provides espresso, licorice, smoke, exotic spices, plums and black cherry. Powerful, yet silky, with a polished velvet finish, another 5-8 years will allow this stunner to really strut its stuff.
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Slightly disappointed with this one although the best part was the nose. Mint and licorice enveloping sweet blackberries. Blackish crimson, very youthful color, and although caressing the palate on entry, the wine fails to give more mid palate in terms of depth, weight and complexity. Nice long mocha finish with tannins well coated with black fruits. I hope 2005 lives up to my expectations.
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Opened at noon on Thanksgiving and decanted for 6 hours. Tried it out and funneled it back into the bottle and left it until the following evening. By that time is was finally approachable and quite good but wow, this wine needs so much time to really come together. Looking forward to popping another in 8-10 years.
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66x Parker 100-Pointers from Bordeaux 1947-2010 tasted blind (Switzerland): Tasted blind. Medium purple. Ripe, even overripe nose of blue fruit, toast, earth. Full bodied, quite heavy with only so, so complexity. Super dry finish my note reads. I think they have over extracted this. Sorry to say, but I need to make some serious deductions here. Group score: 16.78, group rank: 48/64
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Certainly a contender for the best wine ever produced here, and that's saying a lot when you consider how many great wines have been released since 1989. But this wine has it all. Still inky, dark in color, this pure sex in a bottle, with its cashmere, silk and velvet tannins. There is so much fruit, you can decide if you want to eat it, or drink it. The finish sticks with you for at least 60 seconds! And the amazing thing is, the wine is only 11 years old. That means it's still going to get better from here!
decanted for 1+ hr nose - somewhat reticent, hint of toast mouth - rather closed. a complex cornucopia of red fruita with slight bitterness, which i find very attractive. really this needs more time to really unwind. tasted next to a 2002 harlan and while it was less powerful, it went better with the food.
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Excited to try my first bottle after Parker's August 2015 100 point review. Deep ruby purple. After 2 hours of decanting, strong wild berry nose. Blueberries? Rich and tannic. Coats upper palate and tongue with great length. Very young (still puckering after 2 minutes)...but drinking beautifully. No sharp edges. Nothing but pleasure and built to age.
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After three hours in the glass the flavors melded together. Aroma: sweet Blackberry, potpourri, palate: lots of tannins, raspberry, coffee, bitter cocoa, graphite, it coated the mouth, spicy finish -slightly bitter. i'm looking forward to trying it again in a year.
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If it’s true, that you taste with your eyes first, the deep color and glycerin tears dripping down the side of the glass lets you know this is going to be a stunner. Licorice, truffles and plum liqueur entice you to know more. On the palate, the wine is rich, concentrated and the texture of velvet. With layers of perfectly ripe, sweet, black fruits that remain on your palate for close to 60 seconds, this is a treat! Still young, another 5 – 10 more years in the bottle will add even more complexity and silk to this stunner.
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Terroir-istes International - France, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Angelus Vertical (Groot Constantia): (Tasted Blind): Deep black-red colour in the glass. Intense minty nose accented with tree bark, dark chocolate, truffle, pepper, liquorice and blackcurrant jam. Mid to full-bodied, with a rich texture, incredible concentration of flavour, and rich, finely woven texture with a long, luxurious finish. Notes of raisin, dry spice, prune, and damson join a subtle Spanish paprika heat. Lovely purity, there is power and muscle here, a road mid-palate and a slight tobacco of Rioja that intrigues. The tannins are thick and reasonably extracted yet at first sight the wine is wonderfully balanced. It closes with blue fruits, a dark plum that segues a little into raisins and a baked fruit edge. Some felt it perhaps had a slight oxidation? And it did show for me as the wine opened so slightly altered the score downwards, slightly smudging the finish. Love to have another bottle that is in top shape as this feels like a superb wine!
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Quite backward and a bit tight on the nose at first showing dark fruit, undergrowth, smoke, spices and floral notes. Sweet fruit on the palate, more precise than the 2009, but still ripe and powerful. Round tannins, good acidity, lovely length. Very polished. Stylistically somewhere between the 2009 and the 2010. Excellent. Should be given a couple of more years in the cellar. 95-96+
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Tasted blind. Slightly cloudy red, almost glowing when swirled. Strongly reminiscent of a St. Julien nose - pure violets with black fruits. Gripping tannins, but sufficiently balanced so as not to overwhelm. Sharp and musty with raspberries, almost sour at the mid-palate, then moving to an incredibly tasty finish. Drinks very new and has a ways to go.
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nose - grapey, dark licorice mouth - dark fruited, cassis, blackberry, olive very ripe and modern in style. others found it hard to believe it to be a Bordeaux. Everyone also really liked it. I however think it needs quite a bit more time to show properly. hold.
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Bordeaux 2005 : Ten years on (Bordeaux Index London): Powerful and very broad shouldered. Impressive winemaking indeed, and rather modern in style, but not as fresh and elegant as, say, Canon. I liked it from bottle perhaps a bit more in 2008 and have six bottles. Let’s see where it goes…
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St Emillion First Growths (Chez Bruce, London): Very creamy vanilla nose. Classy but oh so young. Very smooth and balanced though. Full throttle, sweet, but balanced. Impressive. Needs 20 years. **** 93+
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My first of 15 bottles -- thought it was about time. Decanted 6 hours. Absolutely brilliant, and I expect my rating for it will only increase in a few years' time.
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Well, it doesn't suck. And kinda good to go off the cork pull. Or at least absolutely delicious off the cork pull. Although the tannins are creeping up.
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Wow....what a great wine! The bottle was decanted into some swan like riedel decanter. Nose was very powerful in the glass with blackberries and plums. This wine was probably one of the most balanced wines I have ever tasted. I think I understand the use of velvety.....to decribe a wine. Lush dark fruits and bramble with almost no tannins. Very long finish.
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Beautiful and classical luxurious bouquet with cherry bonbons. In the mouth concentrated creamy juice, beautifully integrated oak, well balanced sweetness and acidity. Round but powerful tannin. A beautiful complex and elegant blockbuster. Very early maturity stage now and a score of 94, but potential for more after 2020.
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A quick "look in." First off, this is a great Angelus - will equal and likely surpass the 89 and 00. Amazing fruit and minerals. Though still tightly coiled, with air this will give pleasure. Expressive nose of mocha, dark fruit, graphite, tobacco, and pencil. The palate elevates everything. Layer after layer of black cherry, blueberry, cassis, oak, graphite, liquid mineral, leather, and pencil. Already some fine balance, but there is tannin to shed. It is my belief that this Angelus will need at least 10 (probably 20) years to really start strutting its stuff. Fantastic! 98+ Pts
PS 2009 Doisy Daene is not to be missed!
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The nose explodes with chocolate, truffle, roasted cherries, flowers, mint, licorice and mineral notes. On the palate, the wine is packed and stacked with what seems like endless layers of rich, ripe, fat, pure, sensuous, lush black and red fruit and polished, silky tannins that end in a long, clean, pure, hedonistic, spicy, chocolate covered, boysenberry and black cherry finish. Due to the nature of the tannins and the wealth of ripe fruit, you can drink this today with pleasure. But I'm holding off for 7-9 years to allow for further development.
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A fabulous, beautiful bottle of Angelus. Great structure, tight tannins and very smooth, silky, voluptuous wine. Drank first bottle of this upon release with the wife at the former Ritz Carlton in Pasadena, CA, for my b-day at the Dining Room. Fantastic bottle! 99 pts. RP gave it 100 pts.
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A deep and brooding wine at this point and not showing much as it's hidden under a cloak of strong but supple tannins. But I can taste the breed here and the structure and texture are of first-growth quality and I see no reason why this wine won't become one of the top vintages of Angelus. While not as open and complex as the 2000 right now, the tannins are even finer than that great vintage. Will need more time to develop than any other vintage from this lovely estate. 93+
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Nose- muted red fruits, earthiness, minerality, a bit funky Palate- tight tannin, good acid, pure fruit, concentrated berry. Medium-long finish Needs 10 years 93+?
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CT Wisconsin Offline 2; 10/5/2012-10/6/2012 (Madison, WI): Some earthy funk on the nose, generally nice balance and firm, mouthcoating tannins. Some real quality here, and plainly French, but the lighter style allows the alcohol to come through a bit too strongly for this to be exceptional. Tasted blind. Group #6 of 10, my #4 of 10.
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Decanted for 8 hours. WOW! Clearly very, very young, but very, very good. Wet slate and graphite on the nose. Dark, dark, dark in the glass, with tremendously dense, concentrated dark fruit, chocolate and a slight smokiness. Iron fist in a velvet glove, this one. The finish goes on and on and on. IF I had more of this, I wouldn't touch it for 10 years, although I'd be sorely tempted.
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The color of midnight oil, this springs to life with black and blue fruit, fresh cracked pepper, licorice, jam, coffee and hints of vanilla bean scents. Thick, rich, concentrated and pure, this special wine delivers an intensity of flavor and purity that few other wines offer. The cashmere textured finish ends with fresh, polished black and blue fruits that last close to 50 seconds!
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WGS: 2005 Bordeaux; 4/17/2010-4/18/2010 (Hilton Hotel Singapore): Slightly reductive soy notes but blew away quickly to reveal inkish /tarish black fruits. Excellent 1st class powerful quality fruits displaying amazing strenght and finesse. Dark chocolate and licourice comes through as well. Despite the youth and power, this is really balanced and harmonious. What a wine! Consistent notes , this really didnt disappoint. This is going to be something great in time to come. I hope to get some soon. Yum!
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Intense in the nose and mouth. Pure, decadent, ripe, sexy, silk drenched fruit pours over your palate. Very concentrated with polished tannins, the wine ends with a seemingly endless stream of pure, ripe fruit.
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Purchased on release. Decanted, rebottled, and served 5 hours later. A slumbering bear better left to hibernate until 2015. Massive structure and frame undergirding a freight car loaded with chocolate cherry, smoky black currant, and tar. The alcohol is prominent in the nose, but the concentration and power is handled by a cooling reservoir of seemingly endless depth, as lava flowing into Lake Superior. Robed in midnight blue, this is long, this is tannic of high grade, and this is balanced. And to be clear..., not over-ripe or fat. Huge, dense flow -- that is the imagery. 96 may be an understatement.
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Dinner (Doug 'n Susie's): Decanted, unfortunately probably not long enough. Consumed over a 5 hour period and it definintely got better and changed throughout the night. The aromatics were the most disappointing. Anyway, rich black currants, cedar, and smoke with a graphite pencil lead thing going on. Powerfully young palate of tannin, toast, and mocha. Acidity was impressive. Good, but it will get so much better with time in bottle.
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Union des Grand Cru Tasting (Lighthouse (Pier 61, Chelsea Piers)): At UGC Grand Tasting in New York. Met expectations. Very nice effort. The major differences between this and the 06 is that this has more dense fruit and has a longer finish. The profiles are relatively the same, though, and at the price of the 05, the 06 should be a comparable bargain. The 05 is definitely overpriced for what it is.
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Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 & 2006 Tasting (Hyatt, Century City): Explosive nose with plum, dark berry, spices, and oak. Quite perfumed with wonderful complexity. The palate is deeply concentrated with loads of dark fruit, firm but sweet tannins, and ample acidity. The finish is amazing with wonderful freshness and length. There is obviously a large amount of tannin and body but the fruit and acidity really support it well. A real wow wine that blows you away with power. 97+
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From the moment you pull the cork, unbelievable aromatics of cherries, tea and licorice. The scent literally erupts from the glass like lava flowing from a volcano or smoke billowing from a fire. As I write this note, my glass is a good arms length away from me and the flavors have permeated the room. The wine is a beautiful, deep, dense purple that is nearly opaque. As you taste this wine, it has tremendous power and concentration of ripe black cherry, cassis, tea, and a tinge of soy that melt around a bridge of super chewy yet approachable tannins. The best Angelus I have ever experienced - young or old. A complete knock out and a great addition to the cellar.
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Tasted during a vertical in Germany in December 2007 and in New York in January 2008, this wine is big, fruit and spice-infused. At first the oak dominates but time in glass reveals a foreboding and rather sumptuous feel, also conveys balance among tannin, fruit and alcohol. I suspect it will surpass the 2000 because of its superior elegance.
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WS Exp - Undetectable nose. Clamped down tight. But holy crap the palate! Like a red and black mixed fruit cobbler with just the right amount of tannin. Great spicy character to this wine.
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2005 Red Bordeaux Vintage Farr Vintners Masterclass (Vintners Hall, City of London): Intense deep colour. Very alcoholic nose initially, later fruity, but overwhelming impression of alcohol remains. Very drinkable, modern, something of a fruit bomb. Fine tannins. Not for me. [Hubert de Bouard was at the tasting: "In 25 years, our most sophisticated wine. Not over-extracted. So elegant, fresh, spicy." Not sure I agree!]
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Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux: Review of 2005 Vintage (Conrad Centennial Singapore): Sweet cherries, mushrooms and coffee cinammon…nutmegs too…cocoa beans on the finish…v elegant…extremely drinkable now. Some worries were voiced over the acidity…but to me…this is just great drinking now! I love it. So so so elegant and pure. 88 to 93+ pts.
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Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 vintage tasting and dinner (Conrad Interntational, Singapore): UGC tasting. This was absolutely superb. Still extremely young, very closed, and far from ready to drink. Still, quite clearly my red wine of the tasting. Lovely, really complex flavours even at this stage, with violets and sweet cherries, mushroom, earth and some licorice notes, floating along on a bed of mocha from the oak. The palate was really, really plush, but with a solid backbone of firm tannins and good acid. The super-long finish ended with notes of spice, nutmeg and peppermint. Wow. I would love to try this 25 years down the road.
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At Sotheby's Tasting: This wine was stunning. Perhaps the WOTN. Very primary and not ready to drink ... but still delicious. Lots of dark fruit, some cassis and a decent amount of vanilla (changable), that receeded after 1.5 hours open. Surprisingly, they did not decant this wine. This will drink GREAT in 10+ years.
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Three Ladies of Bordeaux (San Francisco): This is delicious, but should not be consumed anytime soon. Somewhat closed on the nose. Hints of tea, leather, and licorice. Very pleasing blackberry and cherry flavors. Extremely smooth, fine tannins. Very balanced. Lengthy finish of vanilla and light oak.
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My best-rated red wine ever. Opaque purple color, nice concentration, explosive yet elegant fruit and flower, fur, spices notes. Huge tannins and rounded body,the impact of the oak was still expressive, a wine to be forgotten in your cellar in the following 25 years. Exceptional wine.
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As fine a red wine as I have ever tasted. Wine was aggressively aerated, decanted for 2 hours and warmed to 68 degrees before drinking. Superb color, nose of cassis, blueberry, oak and an iron like minerality. Simply astounding mouth feel and mouth coverage. It seemed to fire off taste buds where i didn't know there were any. Lavish, rich, and powerful. A griping finish that interferes with even speaking. Great balance now. The aggressive aeration and slight warming was to open this obviously 50 year wine a bit to try and get a glimpse of the future of this wine. It should be a 100 pointer in 10 years.
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2005 Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting (Drake Hotel, Chicago, Illinois): 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. This is an outstanding wine but I was not as impressed as others were. I felt the 2000 Angelus is a better wine. This had fine tannins and was actually on the elegant side. Notes of leather and cassis. Lipsmackingly dry with a huge finish. 94+ points.
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UGC 2005 Bordeaux Tasting (and dinner) (The Drake): Full depp red/purple color. Huge forward cassis liaquer nose of ripe black fruit. nice big rich black fruit and coffee with a long graphite finish. Structured, but reasonably approachable. 94+ pts.
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This is the finest wine Angelus has ever produced. Inky black in color, with essences of liquefied fruit and minerals. Pure silk. Your palate jumps for joy when this incredibly rich, concentrated Bordeaux elixir flows over your palate. This is intense. What a pleasure to taste.
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2005 Bordeaux @ Union des Grand Crus (San Francisco, CA): Nose is dominated by lactic aromas. Butter, animal fat and loads of fruit. The palate coverage is absolute. Tannins are substantial, but very fine. The palate is long. I would have liked more diversity in the nose, but this is nevertheless excellent.
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Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (San Francisco): Tasted at the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux in SF. Quick notes: approachable now, spicy, dark, black fruit with touches of licorice. Very Good.
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This sports an inky purple color. Spice box aromas, coupled with blackberry, plum, anise and more fill the air. The wine is rich, concentrated and intense. There is an amazing purity to the wine. The finish is polished, long and clean. This is very sexy and serious juice. This 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc wine will need time to develop just like the 89 & 90. The smooth tannins are in balance. This mighjt be a better wine than the 90 or 00, my two favorite vintages of Angelus.
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I'm not an experienced barrel taster, but this was delicious. I liked it better than the Petrus and Troplong Mondot we tasted the same day. 96 could be low, but not likely too high.
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4/9/2024 - platpeeps Does not like this wine: 85 Points
Earthy and muddy with sweet dark fruits and full-on extraction. In the mouth it just felt unbalanced, spicy and hot, primarily due to an excess of alcohol. Closer to a Chateauneuf-du-Pape than a claret, and not pulling my punches, I found this gaudy and monstrous. CHP 85 pts
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3/4/2024 - jrh82 wrote: 92 Points
Phew, this wine is not ready. Decanted for let breathe for 5-6 hours and still it wasn't open for business. Very dark and dense fruit, chocolatey, you could certainly feel the alcohol. Nowhere near ready. But underneath it all you could feel the quality. This will be a great wine one day - but keep it for another 5-10 years.
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2/22/2024 - dbg wrote:
I approached my first bottle of this with some trepidation after a few other 2005 St. Emilions disappointed due to heavy overextraction and overripe fruit.
Immediately on opening the nose and palate hit me with raisiny sweetness, glossy ripe fruit, good acidity and tannins. I leave it alone in the glass for a couple of hours and the nose is much improved. Shy, backward, but at least not offputting. Very modern on the palate. I really don’t want this to be another boring overdone right bank 05, so I give it a continuance and stick it in the fridge for the next day.
Not expecting much today, the wine has really come around. Nose has dark fruits, cassis, cigar wrapper, a hint of moist earth. Medium-full body, with plenty of acid and tannin to balance the abundant fruit. No overripe or raisiny notes remain, no alcoholic heat. No complexity at this stage. That and the overnight improvement tell me this has potential to blossom. Excellent now with upside potential.
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2/14/2024 - yaanik Likes this wine: 100 Points
Dense, structured. Cannot believe this is 19 years old. Still very primary -- layers of crushed sweet blackberry, floral. Decant for several hours.
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1/6/2024 - englishman's claret wrote:
Unlike most 2005s I've tasted over the past couple of years, I didn't have the chance to sit with this at home and follow it over a long period. So who knows, maybe it was open at the start and shut down, maybe it would have opened up in time. But over the couple of hours that I had it in the glass at dinner, it was brutally shut down. A big heap of fruit, shrouded in oak as young Angelus of this era is. Forbidding at the moment, demanding (not asking for) another decade.
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12/16/2023 - PDavisMarble wrote: 96 Points
After a 2 hour decant, this kept climbing the mountain, revealing more and more, both in the current palate as well as much more to come.
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9/11/2023 - The Andrews Likes this wine: 94 Points
4-hour decant, and didn’t really open up for another hour after that. Peak was at about 6 hours. Heavily dark fruit driven today, floral on the nose, but solid tannin structure. Ben thought it was close to one dimensional, but Margaret thought it had more going on, and was just young. Probably worth waiting another several years. Quite reminiscent of a big Napa cab today. Might have been much better on day 2, but we finished it :). Bit of a quaffer at this point. 94 today with upside potential.
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6/18/2023 - havana4 🍾🍇 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Long life ahead. Vibrant and energized. Just starting to show secondary characteristics .
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5/14/2023 - MonacoMik wrote: 100 Points
Popped this open bc its EP week, and Angelus was the first to shock the EP market w a whopping 32.5% increase in price over last year. A bit of over-reaching if you ask me.
Back to the wine though, rated 100 RP (and I agree). Opened and poured a tiny bit which was just so fresh and vibrant, despite, forced out of its sleep for 17 years. Over the next 2-3 hours it was acting as a well educated teenager, with fresh energy and radiance, but past the 3rd hour, became a bit broody, yet still a whopper of wine just the energy had faded and more tertiary flavours filled the glass.
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5/12/2023 - Dunwall Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark fruit tones, a hint of jelly, very good and well-balanced but was hoping for something a bit more complex, may need more time
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4/6/2023 - Norn Iron wrote: 95 Points
Very fine wine. Dark, no hint of ageing. Some considerable fruit on the palate; there was also presence of oak which slightly enhanced the fruit with moderate tannins and acidity to ensure perfect balance. Powerful finish. Perfect with steak.
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3/27/2023 - ahubner Likes this wine:
Delicioso
No barco com Angélica, Renato, Vieri e Liana.
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2/11/2023 - soyhead wrote:
my impatience is palpably obvious having burnt through nearly a half a case of this wine without it hitting prime time. Napa fruit worshippers would be advised to pop the cork and enjoy but for me, in spite of being 17 years old, the '05 Angelus is still rather primary. Raspberry and tannins are the sum total of what I managed to jot down, this wine has a gorgeous core of fruit waiting to express itself but as of today its still just an adolescent. HOLD.
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10/27/2022 - Cellar Fiend wrote: 90 Points
New World and too Alcoholic for my palate. Never again.
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10/21/2022 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 96 Points
Slow ox for 2 hours. Less than a 1/10th of a teaspoon of sediment. Relatively thick an unpliable tannins, but they were pretty smooth. Black and blue fruits dominated with just a touch of slightly sour and tangy elements arising on the 30 second finish. Some sweet Oak and a faint touch of green veggies. A very interesting wine that I suspect will improve by a couple points over the next 5+ years.
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8/20/2022 - Brent25 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Clear deep ruby/garnet; clean medium nose of cassis, raspberry jam, balsamic, old leather, musty/dusty books and fall cracked leaves; dry; high acidity; medium plus tannins; medium plus alcohol; medium plus body; pronounced flavour intensity; palate is tarter with addition of cocoa and dried flowers; long long finish; drink now or in 5 years; this is an absolute stunning wine; velvety and beguiling like an seductress slipping into your DM; finish was over a minute long; no decant; peaked around an hour after being opened
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6/4/2022 - drjb Likes this wine: 96 Points
At Sumi, Noosa Junction. This wine opened beautifully with a rich nose of black and red fruits balanced by cedar, liquorice and dark chocolate. The palate reflects the primary fruits with layers of flavour balanced by savoury touches of tobacco, cedar and spice. While there is plenty of volume the balance is impressive with a fine long aftertaste. A wonderful conjunction of winery and vintage.
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5/20/2022 - Melli Likes this wine: 99 Points
About as perfect as it gets!
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3/14/2022 - Clube Likes this wine: 100 Points
Decanted 6 hours. Incredible layers, density and bouquet. One of the best wines I ever tasted !
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11/28/2021 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points
20 Vintages of Angelus (1988-2015): All wines tasted single blind. A few observations and conclusions: It seems that until more recently, Angelus focused on late picking, big wines with too much extraction. Most pre 2004 wines we tasted did not show well and are drying out or already have. The younger vintages showed better but only time will tell if the 2004 to 2015 vintages will age more gracefully. An experienced Angelus collector mentioned a style shift towards more finesse right after the promotion to Premier Grand Cru Classe A with the 2012 vintage. It would have been great to include more of the recent vintages (we had only 09/10/14/15) to better understand when and to what extent that shift happened. Still, there are some very good wines with the 2010 being the WOTN (rated 96+ pts, the structuredness, freshness and purity of the vintage shines through), narrowly ahead of the 2008 (96pts, these 2008 right banks are singing these days and are incredibly fresh) as well as two wines with 95 pts, the 2005 (slightly closed but lots of complexity and no structural deficits) and the 2015 (showcasing the stylistic shift: there aren’t many 2015s out there that share the light- and airiness and perfect ripeness level and purity with their respective 2010 counterparts).
TN: Rather backward nose. Is not much there or is it hidden? On the palate this shows beautiful fresh and pure red and blue fruit, fresh forrest berries, some coffee notes. Quite fresh and luxurious. The freshness and lightness are highlights. Additional layers of herbs and minerality but dominated by the fresh fruit. Good structural frame without fault. Medium plus length. Not yet fully open for business, this got better by the minute and a second glass at the end of the tasting confirmed that. If the structure holds, this can become a 97+ pts wine. Today this is drinking on a 95 pts level.
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11/22/2021 - sirpat00 wrote: 94 Points
Angélus vertical (Fribourg): Angélus vertical of 20 vintages. Main observations were : 1/ Older vintages before the mid-2000s often suffered from drying tannin and showed a lot of extraction, 2/ Younger vintages quickly benefited from aeration hence decanting advised, 3/ the fruit profile became darker over time 4/ best vintage to drink today: 2004. All wines were directly poured with no prior decant and served in flights of 4.
Tasting note:
Quite ripe and extracted and on balance a rather dark fruit profile. Quite densely built, creamily textured palate. Intensity even if not overly complex. Revisiting showed more fruit and freshness.
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11/4/2021 - Vinum Deorum wrote: 99 Points
Bottle was opened 12 hours before being decanted for 3 hours in a wide base decanter.
A kaleidoscopic wine, which possesses everything one can expect: Energy and balance, tension and sharpness, complexity and harmony, length and length. The sort of wine that leaves you speechless when drunk in good company with the proper food pairing (here with a perfect truffle risotto). Aromas of violet, pencil shavings, cigar box, blueberries, with hints of mocha and black truffle.
The missing point will for sure come with a further aging, as it is still in an early part of its long life. Flawless and glorious wine.
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10/2/2021 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 95 Points
5 hour decant with an additional 2 splashes before putting back into the bottle to take to the restaurant for a great meal with Joel and Diane. Food and company were exceptional, however this bottle not as great as previous. 93 pts initially even with all the decant, still a bit tight and astringent yet soft in the mouth at the same time. Red/dark red fruited. Some good layers to the fruit but no 'wow' there. Still some under cork in the bottle in the cellar to try tonight to see if there's any further improvement. Addendum to follow.
Addendum next night.....a little darker fruit, nose more classic, weight in the mouth a little heavier. Better by 2 points the first hour so now a 95. 2nd hour much more astringency shows up so going to hold the rest of these for many years.
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9/30/2021 - svdheijden wrote: 98 Points
Opened ten hours and decanted one hour before serving. Even after 16 years still dense, initially closed and young. Served alongside Cheval Blanc 2005 which is already more developed and mature. Gradually opening up with a massive wave of dark fruit. Decadent as well as elegant, velvety but very structured with a backbone of fine tannins. Roasted coffeebeans, lead pencil, cigar box. Multi-layered and endless on the palate. Impressive freshness and purity. No doubt this wine is heading for the perfect score. Completely on par with the Cheval Blanc with an even brighter future.
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8/24/2021 - BrionHammond Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is perfect combo of Merlot & Cab franc (53/47)
This vintage is so ddelicious. Wow
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7/4/2021 - VinhoVerde Likes this wine:
Remarkably backward for the only “right-bank” wine in a flight of northern Medocs. Medium-dark red color. Harsh tannins almost completely mask the fruit at this stage. Very surprising. This needs a decade to sort itself out. Too young to accurately score numerically.
Pulled cork 2 hours before serving.
From Mark’s 2005 Bordeaux Vintage tasting:
Attended a 36 bottle 2005 Bordeaux wine tasting recently. The wine above is one of those wines. Served “ single-blind.”
Tasted over a 2 day period, 18 wines per day. Day 1, all 18 wines were served with corks pulled 2 hours prior to tasting. Day 2, wines were double-decanted 2 hours before serving. Unsurprisingly, Day 2 wines were softer, displaying riper fruit flavors, and less tannic than those tasted on Day 1.
Kudos to Mark for both a fantastic experience as well as providing an instructive opportunity on how the 2005 Bordeaux vintage is showing at this stage.
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6/26/2021 - Eric wrote:
2005 Bordeaux at 16 years courtesy of Mark Taylor; 6/26/2021-6/27/2021 (Atlanta, GA): Cherry, right bank? Gains a lot of depth with a plummy, fruit driven, cassis body. The purity of the flavor profile had me thinking about Lafite for a while, but you have to trust your first impression. My #2 and the group #2. Correctly guessed Angelus.
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4/17/2021 - llink wrote: 94 Points
Popped and poured. Deep black cherry and blackberries on the nose. Deep, extracted palate, lovely texture but still a bit austere and tannic.
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3/6/2021 - gteran76 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Even tough I’m a Napa guy and dislike most French wines (I know this sounds bad) yesterday’s Chateau Angelus was my factory wine at our monthly CWG blind tasting. Didn’t had that dirty feet smell, instead it was like roses and expresso, the palate was complex, berries, licorice, minerals with a hint of vanilla coming from the nicely integrated oak. All of this coming to a heavenly finishhhhh...
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2/11/2021 - jmoon Likes this wine: 95 Points
Plush and gorgeous but only came to life after two hours when we had almost run out ... decant needed !!
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1/24/2021 - mchern02 wrote: 96 Points
3 hour decant
Youthful with dark rich fruit, jammy, floral and inviting. Youthful palate with bound up energy, minerals, fantastic length and verve. Infinite finish.
Very very youthful but not tight; can be enjoyed now but even better in 5-10 plus years. Still a baby!
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1/2/2021 - gsquireh wrote: 98 Points
Velvet in a bottle. This sans Cabernet Sauvignon grape wine is glorious and drinking perfectly. A delight for celebrating New Year's Eve at Thomas Keller's Surf Club in Miami Beach. The concentration is rich, ripe and regal! Kudos to the Boüard family for making an extraordinary Right bank 2005 beauty. The tannins blend exquisitely as the mouthfeel is layered, lingering and so VERY pure. The blue and black fruits blend in harmony inviting you to panoply of flowers, gourmet licorice from the Netherlands, and the finest coffee from Ethiopia. Think spectacular from nose to mouth feel, to swirl, to swallow, to savoring!
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10/28/2020 - Eric wrote:
M&PD Zoom Tasting: Bordeaux (Zoom): Super young. My initial guess was a ridiculous 2016 just based on how primary and fruity this was. Dense. Just an absolute wall of decadent fruit. Blackberry. Super juicy. John hinted that maybe there was some coffee showing, and at that point (power of suggestion) there was clear espresso and coffee on the nose. It seemed like the clear and obvious Right Banker at that point.
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12/29/2019 - spendergast Likes this wine: 99 Points
A nearly flawless wine with highly concentrated dark fruit, cedar, with well integrated tannins. The wine is somewhat decadent but well balanced and not overdone.
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11/7/2019 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Fruit forward, pleasant.
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10/19/2019 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 96 Points
You know, sometimes you have a wine and sometimes you have a wine that is just a Royal blast. Opened 6 hours before dinner, decanted and observed every hour or so after. Slightest of barnyard on opening, gone after an hour. Crimson red in the glass, picks up darker character and weight with each passing hour. Lots of leather and lead pencil, red fruit turns to black fruit (blackberry), it is tart early on and changes later. It is like crushed velour in the mouth, pleasant acidity for the long run, a touch of iron and herbs round it out.
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12/30/2018 - llink wrote: 93 Points
Consumed over 2 days. Black and inky color. Primary nose of blackberry and spice maybe slightly medicinal. The palate is hard and impenetrable, showing lots of extraction and grape tannin. I was hoping after 13-14 years that this might be more open, but it is really dense and structured. Not pleasurable today.
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11/1/2018 - mam1966 wrote: 96 Points
Awesome, but wait another 10 to 15 years
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8/25/2018 - Spargel Likes this wine: 94 Points
Schöne Nase, Tannine gut integriert, langer Abgang. Schöner Wein, aber kommt insgesamt nicht an die Erwartungen heran - weniger differenziert oder explosiv als Name und Jahrgang suggeriert.
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8/17/2018 - soyhead wrote:
nose - raspberry
mouth - slightly feral, funky, savory, complex dark fruit with a velvety mouthfeel. More complex and seemingly evolved than the 05 Pavie which we tasted immediately after.
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3/7/2018 - Ed Veritas wrote:
Blind tasting Mar/2018.
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1/18/2018 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 96 Points
Château Angélus tasting with Hubert de Boüard (Wine Watch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida): This was a powerhouse wine. Still a baby, and I wouldn't touch this wine for at least five years (if not a decade). It's so dense, with a lot of intensity on the palate. This nose is dominated by ripe blackberry and blueberry, along with violets, fresh herbs, and coffee. Clearly one of the stars of this vertical tasting, but also the least evolved.
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11/4/2017 - dchain wrote: 92 Points
Deep ruby. Alcohol dripping down the sides as you swirl the glass. A frightening 14.5% alcohol! Very creamy cherry fruit, touch of cherry float with floral spices. Touch of alcohol is noticeable but not totally distracting. I found this to be a bit over extracted and although the mid palate fruit is Kuah and fantastic, I was disappointed with the dry puckering finish. 96+ on the nose but time will not resolve over extraction. I feel this wine has been overrated on CT which I have rarely seen.
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9/4/2017 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 95 Points
Second part of our 9 year vertical, this paired with a duck breast over lunch. Perfect Bordeaux nose in the glass, reeks of quality and class. Beautiful structure, mellowing tannins with no harsh edges but still plenty of power to go a long ways....think 20 years easy. Beautiful classic ending.
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4/24/2017 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rich and powerful. Fairly complex but still so young and primary. Blue and black fruits. Mostly blue fruit as the cab franc is coming out in spades. Fire pit and some light ash. This is an interesting wine for sure; well made and should last a very long time. Elegant.
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3/18/2017 - Zweder wrote: 97 Points
Occasional dinner group: 100 Parker points (red) wines (@ the Librije in Zwolle, Netherlands.): Complex bouquet with dark berries, coffee and some rustic flavors. On the palate juicy dark berries; very ripe fruits, a lot of sweetness and sweet spices, good acidity, tannin and length. This wine is in its early maturity stage now and will still be great in 2025+. 96 - 98
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3/5/2017 - Rowchan Likes this wine: 91 Points
Clear, Darkest mauve with pink rim, slow-moving and sporadic thick tears.
Clean, med+ intensity, with aromas of buckets of black berries, stewed plums and damsels, slight floral, pomegranate, tobacco, and tomato leaves.
Dry, med body, med+ tannins, med alcohol, light acidity, with further tastes of mulberry, cassis, pu'er leaves, sweetened dark gravy, dark chocolate. Fabulous complexity but surprisingly still young. It opened up slowly but steadily. I have one other bottle in my home cellar and will look to open it in another 3+ years. Great finish.
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2/5/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Sexy, sensuous, refined and with textures that are best described as cashmere, the aromatically intense experience provides espresso, licorice, smoke, exotic spices, plums and black cherry. Powerful, yet silky, with a polished velvet finish, another 5-8 years will allow this stunner to really strut its stuff.
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1/1/2017 - the player Likes this wine: 93 Points
Slightly disappointed with this one although the best part was the nose. Mint and licorice enveloping sweet blackberries. Blackish crimson, very youthful color, and although caressing the palate on entry, the wine fails to give more mid palate in terms of depth, weight and complexity. Nice long mocha finish with tannins well coated with black fruits. I hope 2005 lives up to my expectations.
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11/25/2016 - Rob MacKay wrote:
Opened at noon on Thanksgiving and decanted for 6 hours. Tried it out and funneled it back into the bottle and left it until the following evening. By that time is was finally approachable and quite good but wow, this wine needs so much time to really come together. Looking forward to popping another in 8-10 years.
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9/16/2016 - Collector1855 wrote: 92 Points
66x Parker 100-Pointers from Bordeaux 1947-2010 tasted blind (Switzerland): Tasted blind. Medium purple. Ripe, even overripe nose of blue fruit, toast, earth. Full bodied, quite heavy with only so, so complexity. Super dry finish my note reads. I think they have over extracted this. Sorry to say, but I need to make some serious deductions here. Group score: 16.78, group rank: 48/64
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5/18/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
Certainly a contender for the best wine ever produced here, and that's saying a lot when you consider how many great wines have been released since 1989. But this wine has it all. Still inky, dark in color, this pure sex in a bottle, with its cashmere, silk and velvet tannins. There is so much fruit, you can decide if you want to eat it, or drink it. The finish sticks with you for at least 60 seconds! And the amazing thing is, the wine is only 11 years old. That means it's still going to get better from here!
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4/17/2016 - strijbosmh wrote: 99 Points
Epic wine!!
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12/31/2015 - soyhead wrote:
decanted for 1+ hr
nose - somewhat reticent, hint of toast
mouth - rather closed. a complex cornucopia of red fruita with slight bitterness, which i find very attractive. really this needs more time to really unwind. tasted next to a 2002 harlan and while it was less powerful, it went better with the food.
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9/5/2015 - dglebo wrote: 97 Points
Excited to try my first bottle after Parker's August 2015 100 point review. Deep ruby purple. After 2 hours of decanting, strong wild berry nose. Blueberries? Rich and tannic. Coats upper palate and tongue with great length. Very young (still puckering after 2 minutes)...but drinking beautifully. No sharp edges. Nothing but pleasure and built to age.
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7/23/2015 - BlancdeBlanc Likes this wine: 94 Points
After three hours in the glass the flavors melded together. Aroma: sweet Blackberry, potpourri, palate: lots of tannins, raspberry, coffee, bitter cocoa, graphite, it coated the mouth, spicy finish -slightly bitter. i'm looking forward to trying it again in a year.
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6/27/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
If it’s true, that you taste with your eyes first, the deep color and glycerin tears dripping down the side of the glass lets you know this is going to be a stunner. Licorice, truffles and plum liqueur entice you to know more. On the palate, the wine is rich, concentrated and the texture of velvet. With layers of perfectly ripe, sweet, black fruits that remain on your palate for close to 60 seconds, this is a treat! Still young, another 5 – 10 more years in the bottle will add even more complexity and silk to this stunner.
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6/1/2015 - rikipedia Likes this wine: 93 Points
Terroir-istes International - France, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Angelus Vertical (Groot Constantia): (Tasted Blind): Deep black-red colour in the glass. Intense minty nose accented with tree bark, dark chocolate, truffle, pepper, liquorice and blackcurrant jam. Mid to full-bodied, with a rich texture, incredible concentration of flavour, and rich, finely woven texture with a long, luxurious finish. Notes of raisin, dry spice, prune, and damson join a subtle Spanish paprika heat. Lovely purity, there is power and muscle here, a road mid-palate and a slight tobacco of Rioja that intrigues. The tannins are thick and reasonably extracted yet at first sight the wine is wonderfully balanced. It closes with blue fruits, a dark plum that segues a little into raisins and a baked fruit edge. Some felt it perhaps had a slight oxidation? And it did show for me as the wine opened so slightly altered the score downwards, slightly smudging the finish. Love to have another bottle that is in top shape as this feels like a superb wine!
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5/9/2015 - rossi.wine wrote: 96 Points
Quite backward and a bit tight on the nose at first showing dark fruit, undergrowth, smoke, spices and floral notes. Sweet fruit on the palate, more precise than the 2009, but still ripe and powerful. Round tannins, good acidity, lovely length. Very polished. Stylistically somewhere between the 2009 and the 2010. Excellent. Should be given a couple of more years in the cellar. 95-96+
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4/26/2015 - TexasBob Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted blind. Slightly cloudy red, almost glowing when swirled. Strongly reminiscent of a St. Julien nose - pure violets with black fruits. Gripping tannins, but sufficiently balanced so as not to overwhelm. Sharp and musty with raspberries, almost sour at the mid-palate, then moving to an incredibly tasty finish. Drinks very new and has a ways to go.
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2/7/2015 - soyhead wrote:
nose - grapey, dark licorice
mouth - dark fruited, cassis, blackberry, olive very ripe and modern in style.
others found it hard to believe it to be a Bordeaux. Everyone also really liked
it. I however think it needs quite a bit more time to show properly. hold.
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1/29/2015 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine: 92 Points
Bordeaux 2005 : Ten years on (Bordeaux Index London): Powerful and very broad shouldered. Impressive winemaking indeed, and rather modern in style, but not as fresh and elegant as, say, Canon. I liked it from bottle perhaps a bit more in 2008 and have six bottles. Let’s see where it goes…
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1/14/2015 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Massive, ripe red fruit. Monolithic
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1/14/2015 - SimonG wrote: 93 Points
St Emillion First Growths (Chez Bruce, London): Very creamy vanilla nose. Classy but oh so young. Very smooth and balanced though. Full throttle, sweet, but balanced. Impressive. Needs 20 years. **** 93+
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11/28/2014 - Pearls_b4Swine wrote: 96 Points
My first of 15 bottles -- thought it was about time. Decanted 6 hours. Absolutely brilliant, and I expect my rating for it will only increase in a few years' time.
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11/27/2014 - GP1970 wrote: 92 Points
not ready at all
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11/3/2014 - McKraftyWino wrote: flawed
corked!
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9/11/2014 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Well, it doesn't suck. And kinda good to go off the cork pull. Or at least absolutely delicious off the cork pull. Although the tannins are creeping up.
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8/29/2014 - KCBrian Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow....what a great wine! The bottle was decanted into some swan like riedel decanter. Nose was very powerful in the glass with blackberries and plums. This wine was probably one of the most balanced wines I have ever tasted. I think I understand the use of velvety.....to decribe a wine. Lush dark fruits and bramble with almost no tannins. Very long finish.
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10/30/2013 - Midde wrote: 99 Points
My favorite of all the angelus we had tonight.
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6/19/2013 - willthethrill wrote: 94 Points
Still somewhat tight, this is not your ordinary Bordeaux! Deep fruit, tobacco and black cherry. Amazing balance. C LOVED. Thanks Steve.
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6/7/2013 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Beautiful and classical luxurious bouquet with cherry bonbons. In the mouth concentrated creamy juice, beautifully integrated oak, well balanced sweetness and acidity. Round but powerful tannin. A beautiful complex and elegant blockbuster. Very early maturity stage now and a score of 94, but potential for more after 2020.
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1/27/2013 - Jamie Manley wrote: 98 Points
A quick "look in." First off, this is a great Angelus - will equal and likely surpass the 89 and 00. Amazing fruit and minerals. Though still tightly coiled, with air this will give pleasure. Expressive nose of mocha, dark fruit, graphite, tobacco, and pencil. The palate elevates everything. Layer after layer of black cherry, blueberry, cassis, oak, graphite, liquid mineral, leather, and pencil. Already some fine balance, but there is tannin to shed. It is my belief that this Angelus will need at least 10 (probably 20) years to really start strutting its stuff. Fantastic! 98+ Pts
PS 2009 Doisy Daene is not to be missed!
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12/16/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
The nose explodes with chocolate, truffle, roasted cherries, flowers, mint, licorice and mineral notes. On the palate, the wine is packed and stacked with what seems like endless layers of rich, ripe, fat, pure, sensuous, lush black and red fruit and polished, silky tannins that end in a long, clean, pure, hedonistic, spicy, chocolate covered, boysenberry and black cherry finish. Due to the nature of the tannins and the wealth of ripe fruit, you can drink this today with pleasure. But I'm holding off for 7-9 years to allow for further development.
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12/2/2012 - dlinlaw Likes this wine: 99 Points
A fabulous, beautiful bottle of Angelus. Great structure, tight tannins and very smooth, silky, voluptuous wine. Drank first bottle of this upon release with the wife at the former Ritz Carlton in Pasadena, CA, for my b-day at the Dining Room. Fantastic bottle! 99 pts. RP gave it 100 pts.
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11/18/2012 - dream wrote: 93 Points
A deep and brooding wine at this point and not showing much as it's hidden under a cloak of strong but supple tannins. But I can taste the breed here and the structure and texture are of first-growth quality and I see no reason why this wine won't become one of the top vintages of Angelus. While not as open and complex as the 2000 right now, the tannins are even finer than that great vintage. Will need more time to develop than any other vintage from this lovely estate. 93+
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10/8/2012 - cadams wrote: 93 Points
Nose- muted red fruits, earthiness, minerality, a bit funky
Palate- tight tannin, good acid, pure fruit, concentrated berry.
Medium-long finish
Needs 10 years
93+?
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10/6/2012 - IWineAlot wrote: 93 Points
CT Offline WI Take 2: Judgement of Madison(Paris) Tasting & BYOB Dinner (Madison, WI): Elegant and balanced nose with currant, red berries and a nice floral component.
Silky on the palate with big jammy red fruit.
SS 93pts.
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10/6/2012 - petitblanc wrote: 90 Points
CT Wisconsin Offline 2; 10/5/2012-10/6/2012 (Madison, WI): Some earthy funk on the nose, generally nice balance and firm, mouthcoating tannins. Some real quality here, and plainly French, but the lighter style allows the alcohol to come through a bit too strongly for this to be exceptional. Tasted blind. Group #6 of 10, my #4 of 10.
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3/8/2012 - aegerter Likes this wine: 97 Points
Drinks well today, but tannins still need more time to be better integrated. Perfection ahead!
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12/26/2011 - Laguna Red wrote: 94 Points
A serious wine but still needs muh time. Dense & concentrated and should be wonderful in 8 years or so.
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8/15/2011 - Fugu Me wrote:
Decanted for 8 hours. WOW! Clearly very, very young, but very, very good. Wet slate and graphite on the nose. Dark, dark, dark in the glass, with tremendously dense, concentrated dark fruit, chocolate and a slight smokiness. Iron fist in a velvet glove, this one. The finish goes on and on and on. IF I had more of this, I wouldn't touch it for 10 years, although I'd be sorely tempted.
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11/21/2010 - Leeying wrote: 89 Points
Light body, very well balanced, black berries
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11/13/2010 - psmith wrote:
Modern styling with a 'Bordeaux sensibility' that keeps the dark fruits and ample body in check. Fine tannins. Needs time, but great elements.
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6/26/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
The color of midnight oil, this springs to life with black and blue fruit, fresh cracked pepper, licorice, jam, coffee and hints of vanilla bean scents. Thick, rich, concentrated and pure, this special wine delivers an intensity of flavor and purity that few other wines offer. The cashmere textured finish ends with fresh, polished black and blue fruits that last close to 50 seconds!
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4/18/2010 - Alex H wrote: 90 Points
WGS: 2005 Bordeaux; 4/17/2010-4/18/2010 (Hilton Hotel Singapore): Slightly reductive soy notes but blew away quickly to reveal inkish /tarish black fruits. Excellent 1st class powerful quality fruits displaying amazing strenght and finesse. Dark chocolate and licourice comes through as well. Despite the youth and power, this is really balanced and harmonious. What a wine! Consistent notes , this really didnt disappoint. This is going to be something great in time to come. I hope to get some soon. Yum!
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7/21/2009 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Intense in the nose and mouth. Pure, decadent, ripe, sexy, silk drenched fruit pours over your palate. Very concentrated with polished tannins, the wine ends with a seemingly endless stream of pure, ripe fruit.
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6/20/2009 - City Wine Journal wrote: 96 Points
Purchased on release. Decanted, rebottled, and served 5 hours later. A slumbering bear better left to hibernate until 2015. Massive structure and frame undergirding a freight car loaded with chocolate cherry, smoky black currant, and tar. The alcohol is prominent in the nose, but the concentration and power is handled by a cooling reservoir of seemingly endless depth, as lava flowing into Lake Superior. Robed in midnight blue, this is long, this is tannic of high grade, and this is balanced. And to be clear..., not over-ripe or fat. Huge, dense flow -- that is the imagery. 96 may be an understatement.
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2/15/2009 - jjclips2 wrote: 93 Points
Dinner (Doug 'n Susie's): Decanted, unfortunately probably not long enough. Consumed over a 5 hour period and it definintely got better and changed throughout the night. The aromatics were the most disappointing. Anyway, rich black currants, cedar, and smoke with a graphite pencil lead thing going on. Powerfully young palate of tannin, toast, and mocha. Acidity was impressive. Good, but it will get so much better with time in bottle.
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1/26/2009 - jrobs7777 wrote:
Union des Grand Cru Tasting (Lighthouse (Pier 61, Chelsea Piers)): At UGC Grand Tasting in New York. Met expectations. Very nice effort. The major differences between this and the 06 is that this has more dense fruit and has a longer finish. The profiles are relatively the same, though, and at the price of the 05, the 06 should be a comparable bargain. The 05 is definitely overpriced for what it is.
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1/26/2009 - TashNYC wrote: 95 Points
Grand Crus de Bordeaux Tasting: 2005 & 2006 wines (NYC, The Lighthouse, Pier 60, Chelsea Piers): A delicious wine. Even better when tasted with friends. Needs 10+ years. I guess I am a hard grader, because I gave it 95 points (and WOTN) at the Sotheby's vertical ... and that was a better showing (and a less-crowded venue). $400/bottle ask price
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1/26/2009 - ews3 wrote: 97 Points
Union des Grand Crus 2005 & 2006 Bordeaux Tasting - NYC (Lighthouse, NYC): dark plum, black fruit. minimum 60 second finish.. remarkable wine.
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1/24/2009 - Badfish wrote: 97 Points
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 & 2006 Tasting (Hyatt, Century City): Explosive nose with plum, dark berry, spices, and oak. Quite perfumed with wonderful complexity. The palate is deeply concentrated with loads of dark fruit, firm but sweet tannins, and ample acidity. The finish is amazing with wonderful freshness and length. There is obviously a large amount of tannin and body but the fruit and acidity really support it well. A real wow wine that blows you away with power. 97+
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12/24/2008 - Buyer and cellar wrote: 99 Points
From the moment you pull the cork, unbelievable aromatics of cherries, tea and licorice. The scent literally erupts from the glass like lava flowing from a volcano or smoke billowing from a fire. As I write this note, my glass is a good arms length away from me and the flavors have permeated the room. The wine is a beautiful, deep, dense purple that is nearly opaque. As you taste this wine, it has tremendous power and concentration of ripe black cherry, cassis, tea, and a tinge of soy that melt around a bridge of super chewy yet approachable tannins. The best Angelus I have ever experienced - young or old. A complete knock out and a great addition to the cellar.
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11/1/2008 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine:
Tasted during a vertical in Germany in December 2007 and in New York in January 2008, this wine is big, fruit and spice-infused. At first the oak dominates but time in glass reveals a foreboding and rather sumptuous feel, also conveys balance among tannin, fruit and alcohol. I suspect it will surpass the 2000 because of its superior elegance.
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10/28/2008 - Roughl wrote: 95 Points
La Conseillante and Angelus dinner (Chai & Bar): Impressive blockbuster wine. Evolves tremendously in the glass, the last sip was divine.
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10/21/2008 - poptart_nyc wrote: 98 Points
2005 Bordeaux- leftovers from WS Experience (SL Gallery): what a romantic wine. it lights up all these scent memories and creates tasty dreams!!! it speaks to me, i wish i could afford it. i'm glad to have tasted it.
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10/18/2008 - G SQUARED wrote: 98 Points
WS Exp - Undetectable nose. Clamped down tight. But holy crap the palate! Like a red and black mixed fruit cobbler with just the right amount of tannin. Great spicy character to this wine.
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10/1/2008 - Remony wrote: 90 Points
2005 Red Bordeaux Vintage Farr Vintners Masterclass (Vintners Hall, City of London): Intense deep colour. Very alcoholic nose initially, later fruity, but overwhelming impression of alcohol remains. Very drinkable, modern, something of a fruit bomb. Fine tannins. Not for me. [Hubert de Bouard was at the tasting: "In 25 years, our most sophisticated wine. Not over-extracted. So elegant, fresh, spicy." Not sure I agree!]
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6/1/2008 - Alex H wrote: 91 Points
Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux: Review of 2005 Vintage (Conrad Centennial Singapore): Sweet cherries, mushrooms and coffee cinammon…nutmegs too…cocoa beans on the finish…v elegant…extremely drinkable now. Some worries were voiced over the acidity…but to me…this is just great drinking now! I love it. So so so elegant and pure. 88 to 93+ pts.
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5/26/2008 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 vintage tasting and dinner (Conrad Interntational, Singapore): UGC tasting. This was absolutely superb. Still extremely young, very closed, and far from ready to drink. Still, quite clearly my red wine of the tasting. Lovely, really complex flavours even at this stage, with violets and sweet cherries, mushroom, earth and some licorice notes, floating along on a bed of mocha from the oak. The palate was really, really plush, but with a solid backbone of firm tannins and good acid. The super-long finish ended with notes of spice, nutmeg and peppermint. Wow. I would love to try this 25 years down the road.
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5/15/2008 - TashNYC wrote: 95 Points
At Sotheby's Tasting: This wine was stunning. Perhaps the WOTN. Very primary and not ready to drink ... but still delicious.
Lots of dark fruit, some cassis and a decent amount of vanilla (changable), that receeded after 1.5 hours open.
Surprisingly, they did not decant this wine. This will drink GREAT in 10+ years.
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5/12/2008 - Matt T wrote: 96 Points
Three Ladies of Bordeaux (San Francisco): This is delicious, but should not be consumed anytime soon. Somewhat closed on the nose. Hints of tea, leather, and licorice. Very pleasing blackberry and cherry flavors. Extremely smooth, fine tannins. Very balanced. Lengthy finish of vanilla and light oak.
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5/10/2008 - Button Yang Likes this wine: 99 Points
My best-rated red wine ever. Opaque purple color, nice concentration, explosive yet elegant fruit and flower, fur, spices notes. Huge tannins and rounded body,the impact of the oak was still expressive, a wine to be forgotten in your cellar in the following 25 years. Exceptional wine.
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4/6/2008 - N2Vin wrote: 98 Points
As fine a red wine as I have ever tasted. Wine was aggressively aerated, decanted for 2 hours and warmed to 68 degrees before drinking. Superb color, nose of cassis, blueberry, oak and an iron like minerality. Simply astounding mouth feel and mouth coverage. It seemed to fire off taste buds where i didn't know there were any. Lavish, rich, and powerful. A griping finish that interferes with even speaking. Great balance now. The aggressive aeration and slight warming was to open this obviously 50 year wine a bit to try and get a glimpse of the future of this wine. It should be a 100 pointer in 10 years.
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1/22/2008 - Vino Me wrote: 94 Points
2005 Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting (Drake Hotel, Chicago, Illinois): 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. This is an outstanding wine but I was not as impressed as others were. I felt the 2000 Angelus is a better wine. This had fine tannins and was actually on the elegant side. Notes of leather and cassis. Lipsmackingly dry with a huge finish. 94+ points.
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1/21/2008 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
UGC 2005 Bordeaux Tasting (and dinner) (The Drake): Full depp red/purple color. Huge forward cassis liaquer nose of ripe black fruit. nice big rich black fruit and coffee with a long graphite finish. Structured, but reasonably approachable. 94+ pts.
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1/20/2008 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
This is the finest wine Angelus has ever produced. Inky black in color, with essences of liquefied fruit and minerals. Pure silk. Your palate jumps for joy when this incredibly rich, concentrated Bordeaux elixir flows over your palate. This is intense. What a pleasure to taste.
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1/19/2008 - hcampana wrote: 94 Points
2005 Bordeaux @ Union des Grand Crus (San Francisco, CA): Nose is dominated by lactic aromas. Butter, animal fat and loads of fruit. The palate coverage is absolute. Tannins are substantial, but very fine. The palate is long. I would have liked more diversity in the nose, but this is nevertheless excellent.
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1/19/2008 - tanglenet wrote:
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (San Francisco): Tasted at the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux in SF. Quick notes: approachable now, spicy, dark, black fruit with touches of licorice. Very Good.
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11/9/2007 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
This sports an inky purple color. Spice box aromas, coupled with blackberry, plum, anise and more fill the air. The wine is rich, concentrated and intense. There is an amazing purity to the wine. The finish is polished, long and clean. This is very sexy and serious juice. This 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc wine will need time to develop just like the 89 & 90. The smooth tannins are in balance. This mighjt be a better wine than the 90 or 00, my two favorite vintages of Angelus.
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5/11/2006 - grapist wrote: 96 Points
I'm not an experienced barrel taster, but this was delicious. I liked it better than the Petrus and Troplong Mondot we tasted the same day. 96 could be low, but not likely too high.
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4/5/2006 - LeDom du Vin wrote: 93 Points
(En Primeur / Futures) Nice fruit, very elegant, great mouthfeel despite present firm tannins, but rather a sign of youth than a fault.
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3/28/2006 - Burgundy Al wrote:
2005 Bordeaux en Primeur; 3/26/2006-3/28/2006 (Bordeaux France): En Primeur tasting. Plum, black cherry liqueur, sweet spice aromas with floral hints. Similar flavors with great balance and structure. Very enticing 93-94 point potential.
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