2016 VINTAGE

the radiant one

 
Three months of summer without water: never before seen in the memory of winegrowers! This surprising climatology, these incredible conditions associated with the terroirs at Angélus, have given us a great, unpredicted, unexpected vintage.

The harvest, picking calmly and when we wanted, took place from 4 to 21 October.
The long time on skins allowed us to extract very ripe grape seed tannins this year. These tannins have an elegant structure, stable and for very long ageing.
Today we are finishing the running off and filling the barrels.

As we had expected of them, the Merlots show an extremely deep colour, and their rich alcohol is perfectly integrated. They are dominated by fruit, freshness, breed and elegance.

The Cabernets Francs, with their crunchiness, which we had suspected during the harvest, magnify this very great vintage of Angélus and enthral us with their level of quality: a touch of cashmere tannins, great smoothness, spicy notes. They rival the Merlots in their elegance.

2016 is a radiant vintage mirroring the incredible summer conditions which shaped its identity and determined its destiny.

VINTAGE 2016, LE RAYONNANT

2016, the Radiant One
  
3 months of summer without water: never before seen in the living memory of winegrowers! This surprising weather, and these incredible conditions, promise us a great, unpredictable and unexpected vintage. Until 20 June, the weather did not spare us, inflicting very heavy rainfall of about 750 mm, which corresponds to the total annual rainfall for a dry year in Bordeaux... In spite of these conditions, flowering went well. Fine weather set in from the last week of June and, which is rare, remained right up to the harvest. We had a sunny but rather cool July, with cold nights. By the end of July, the sea temperature was much lower than usual for this period. And not a drop of rain. August saw temperatures climb, with heatwaves of over 35 degrees some days. Nevertheless, the day / night temperature ratio was 2 to 1 throughout the month, highly favourable for aromatic expression in our grapes and maintaining freshness in the fruit.  To this can be added the almost complete absence of rain, 5 to 8 mm which is nothing, or the strict minimum to allow the vine to rehydrate. And that is why the very young vines began to suffer. The oldest vines, especially on clay and/or limestone soils, resisted magnificently (the limestone and clay work like sponges, absorbing water when it rains and redistributing it during drought).  
 
In more than 35 years of observing the vineyard, I have always been accustomed to storms on 14 July and 15 August. This year, not a bit! The summer continued through September, and with it the heat:  daily temperatures of 28, 30 degrees.  A severe storm was forecast for mid-September. We were all quaking in our boots. But the menacing white and grey clouds finally turned into beneficial rain. 19 then 4 mm  of rain. This rain fallen from the heavens gave back energy, strength and breath to our vineyard. Then the good weather quickly returned. The tannins are ripening slowly and picking begins at the start of October for the grands vins. The cool nights have preserved the aromas and the acidity. The weather forecast for the coming two weeks lets us look forward to a calm harvest, picking as we wish, and allowing us to hope for and expect another great vintage at Angélus! A radiant vintage in the image of this three-month summer that fixed its destiny and shaped its identity.