At Angélus, the harvest began with the grapes from the young plantations on 18th September and, for questions of alcohol/acidity balance, on Monday 23rd for the Merlot. The water reserves that had built up during the spring proved vital for this summer, which shifted gear as from the first days of July. It was a surprising, hot, dry and sunny summer, which seemed to go on and on. A summer in which Angélus's great clay-limestone terroirs behaved in an amazing way, enabling a regular supply of moisture to the vines.

For our second year of conversion to organic vine-growing, thanks to the great skill of our teams we were able to keep copper doses down to below normal levels. Our vines look magnificent. The rain on Sunday and at the beginning of the week enabled better phenolic ripeness and an enhancement of the balance of juices in terms of sugar.

The Merlot, which we are harvesting today with great excitement and in wonderful weather, tastes outstanding with great aromatics, and the grape skins have excellent thickness. It promises quality levels on a par with legendary vintages.

Two weeks of fine weather is hoped for while we wait for the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen smoothly to optimum levels. Will it be another awesome Bordeaux vintage? Watch this space...

"52 years earlier, on the occasion of the 1967 vintage, my father Hubert de Boüard carefully watched and learned next to his cousin, Hélène Grenié de Boüard, before taking over the reins in 1985. In the meantime, an evolution that could easily be described as a revolution, took Angélus towards the summit of viticultural excellence, driven by the passion and unstinting commitment of a family and its teams to glorify an outstanding terroir.
2019 marks the 35th vintage of Hubert de Boüard.”

Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal