Carillon d'Angelus 2023

Gorgeous purple colour in the glass. Just-ripe cherries, cranberries and plums. Smells fresh and lively with some liquorice hints. Smooth and so lively, really lifted and pure with both sweet and crisp cranberries giving a mixture of tension but also great movement. Bitter orange touches add a spiced angle but also more character. Lovely tannin integration, this is fun, but stylish, very clean and precise. Great drinkability on offer. 3.6pH. Ageing 16 months, 60% new oak.

Flowers, licorice, cherries, plums, black raspberries, vanilla, and a hint of spice open the perfume. On the palate, the wine is polished, soft, and displays red pit fruits, chalk, and spice that you taste and feel on the palate and in the finish, with a touch of refreshing mint on the backend. The wine blends 90% Merlot, with 10% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2027-2040. 92-94 pts.

Dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections. Ripe red cherries, a hint of plums, subtle herbal notes, candied orange zest. Juicy, elegant, delicate fruit, pleasant acidity, complex, mineral, good length, a full-bodied food wine.

90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 48 h/ha. Delicate red-berry bouquet, violet, blood orange zest and blackcurrant nectar. On the sublime palate with a silky texture, balanced verve and sinewy body, incredibly pure and precise. In the concentrated, long finish with morello cherry, feminine, light graphite and fine-grained extract.

Bright violet and plum colour, vibrating with life, an easy wine to recommend and no doubt to drink; I love the depth and the rich damson fruit expression that combines with dark chocolate, liquorice and cocoa, with a juicy finish.

93-95. Barrel Sample. This wine has bright red-fruit and spice aromas. Generous tannins and rich black fruits go with the structure of this fine second wine. It has concentration and a real juicy acidity that balances the tannins.

Ripe-fruited and floral, almost reminiscent of a Nebbiolo, with notes of grape pomace, sour cherries and spice; on the palate it starts off soft and creamy, then the tannins tighten their grip, well-structured, building momentum while staying elegant, with a finely spicy, red-fruited finish. A wine that will give pleasure relatively early, yet has reserves.