Grape Wine Journey

What is marketing? Ch Angelus is definitely a master of this!

Angelus means Angel in Latin, but there wasn’t any bell tower to back the nickname of the label.  So why the reference to bell tower?   The legend is the workers in the field could hear bells from three churches around the Chateau during the day reminding them to pray.

In 2012 Ch Angelus was promoted to Grand Cru Classe A in the St Emilion classification with the ranks of Cheval Blanc and Ausone.  In celebration of the promotion, the Chateau is undergoing a massive renovation with a bell tower to live up to their nickname finally.

When the host learnt that we came from Hong Kong, he took out a small remote control and the bell tower started to play the Chinese National Anthem for us as the welcome tune.

What started as a joke on the drawing board is very real now.  The bell tower can play over 100 National Anthems, and that the Cardinal of Bordeaux blessed the bells and the tunes were played from the bells by a musician from the area and digitally recorded.

We then walked up the hill across the street to Chateau Bellevue that the Chateau recently acquired for the tasting session.

In the tasting room of Chateau Bellevue, we tasted the 2007 vintage from both Chateaus.  2007 is not ranked as an exceptional vintage by any means, but it is very drinkable now.

The 07’ Bellevue showed a lot of red fruit and violet, which is the classic merlot style from the area.

The 07’ Angelus was all about coffee, mocha and coca, which is unusual for a young vintage.

At the end of the tour, the very sociable host asked if we knew which Bond movie the wine was showcase?  And the answer … Casino Royale on the train to Prague!