2021 Ch Angélus Le Carillon D'Angelus Grand Cru Classe, St-Emilion

DUE OCT 2024

Medium-deep colour. Lovely pure elderberry, hint star anise, raspberry pastille aromas with a touch of dark chocolate. Well concentrated chalky-textured palate with blackberry raspberry pastille fruits and very good silky textures. Impressive elegant crunchy fruits at the finish – a very refined style. 80% merlot, 20% cabernet franc. 16 months in new (60%) and seasoned (40% – second fill) oak.

94-95 points Andrew Caillard MW

The 2021 Le  Carilon d'Angelus offers a mixture of red and black fruit on the nose hints of cedar and cloves and even a touch of pain d'epices. The palate is medium bodied with pliant tannins a find beat of acidity good weight and freshness and a suave and very harmonious finish. I have remarked on the melioration of Carillon in the last two years and that this continues that trend.

91-93 points NM vinous.com

A huge step up from No 3, you find far more depth through the palate here, with subdued power, black pepper and clove spice, sculpted, fresh and juicy with raspberry purée and gooseberry fruits. More graphite than I find in a normal year with this wine, and on-the-edge gunsmoke reduction, partly I am sure from the vintage, and partly from the added precision of the new 4,500m2 cellar. 60% new oak with the rest in stainless steel, 16hl/h yield.

91 points Jane Anson janeanson.com

Delicate raspberry purée perfume on the nose alongside roses and violets. So charming and welcoming. Smooth and succulent, the sharpness is there with the strawberry and raspberry fruit, plus graphite and slate touches as well. Extremely silky on the palate, the flavours just glide, the tannins are pure silk, excellently textured and the fruit has a crystalline purity with a tangy edge and chalky centre. Sensitive and delicately framed in terms of grace on the palate, but with an intensity of energy and pure fruit. Very playful, drinkable. focused, bright and shining with tension. A lovely Carillon that benefitted in 2021 from its own cellar as well as 10% more Cabernet Franc in the blend than usual.

Drinking Window 2025 - 2035

92 points Georgie Hindle decanter.com

Now benefiting from its own dedicated winery, the 2021 Le Carillon d'Angélus is no longer a "second wine" per se, but rather draws on some 25 hectares of dedicated vineyards, emphasizing Merlot from the cool terroirs of Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, complemented by holdings in the gravelly Figeac sector and on clay soils near Angélus itself—with anything that doesn't make the cut relegated to the No. 3 d'Angélus. Exhibiting aromas of raspberries, plums, warm spices and nicely integrated new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and polished, with lively acids, refined tannins and a long, penetrating finish.

90-92+ points William Kelley robertparker.com