12 May 2021

Released for sale en primeur this morning, 2020 Château Angludet could well be a wine that sums up the 2020 vintage in Bordeaux and the direction of the region in general.  As comfortable and reassuring as putting on an old pair of leather gloves, Angludet's reputation for consistently over-delivering on quality for the price is well-deserved, but Ben Sichel and his team are also very willing to embrace change. 

Currently in conversion to biodynamics, the style has moved towards the expression of terroir in recent vintages, with increasing use of amphorae, to emphasise fruit and minerality rather than oak.  Jancis Robinson described the zeitgeist in Bordeaux in a recent article, describing these as ‘new old’ wines which "delightfully combine the classicism of traditional bordeaux with modern winemaking and vine-growing sophistication."  This reflects our experience tasting many of the 2020 cask samples and certainly sums up Angludet 2020. 

Tasted immediately after Château du Tertre (its near-neighbour in Margaux) the palate was not as concentrated, but had a wonderful balance and harmony to the tannins, with superb fruit purity and lots of personality.  Worn-out clichés like 'Englishman's claret' are probably as unhelpful and outmoded as describing wines as masculine or feminine, but the intended sense is of a wine that is all about restraint, refinement and understatement. 2020  Angludet certainly has all of those qualities, combined with a more contemporary fruit intensity and a wonderful texture.

Max Sichel remarked to us last week that even now, they were still waiting for the danger of frost to pass, so fingers crossed that the size of the harvest in 2021 will not be affected too badly, as it was in 2017 (when no wine was released).  In the meantime, at just £274 per dozen bottles in bond (unchanged from 2019), the 2020 vintage is a wonderful new release from this favourite château and we urge you to add it to your cellar.

Landing spring 2023.

To order, simply e-mail us at sales@richardkihl.ltd.uk

 

Producer Profile

Château Angludet, Margaux

Château Angludet is an AOC wine in the commune of Margaux.  Originally classified as a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, the estate tends not to refer to its Cru Bourgeois status and prefers to operate outside of the classification, equalling many Grand cru classé wines in quality.  The estate has been owned by the Sichel family (co-owners of Palmer) since 1961 and is currently the home of Ben Sichel.  

Named after Bertrand d'Angludet, the knight who owned the estate in 1150, it is one of the oldest châteaux in the region.  The 32 hectares of vineyards have remained largely intact and unchanged since 1758.  The free-draining, gravely and sandy soils here are classic Médoc terroir.  The vineyards are planted with 46 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 41 per cent Merlot and 13 per cent Petit Verdot (an unusually high proportion compared to most left bank estates). The estate is currently in conversion to biodynamic viticulture.