100 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

I loved the 2018 Château Angélus from barrel last year and it blew me away from bottle, epitomizing the new, fresher, more elegant style of the estate while still bringing classic Angélus richness and power. The 2018 is a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc that was brought up in new oak, with a portion of the Cabernet Franc in foudre. A vivid purple color is followed by a vibrant bouquet of blackberries, crème de cassis, crushed violets, spring flowers, and cedar pencil. Beautifully concentrated, full-bodied, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, it has gorgeous tannins, remarkable purity of fruit, and awesome length. I followed this bottle for multiple days and it only improved, picking up additional depth and richness, while never showing a hint of oxidation. Pure perfection, it's going to benefit from 7-8 years of bottle age and keep for 3-4 decades. This is a sensational, magical wine from this talented team, led by winemaker Emmanuelle d'Aligny-Fulchi. Comparing this to the more opulent 2005 and 2009 over the coming decades will be an incredible experience.

99 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

The aromas are incredibly complex with dark berries, elderberries, bay leaves, cloves and tile, follow through to a full body with layers of creamy and lightly dusty tannins that deliver a lingering finish and great attention to detail. The flavors range from black fruit to earth and stones. It’s reserved and poised with great intensity and power, in a toned and formed mode. One for the cellar. Try after 2026.

98-99 Jonathan Choukroun - Vert de Vin

The nose is elegant, gourmand, beautifully racy and offers a beautiful finesse of the grain, a beautiful finesse of the definition, deepness, gourmandize as well as harmony. This wine takes time to open. It reveals notes of pulpy cassis, small blue plums, small notes of cornflower associated with touches of wild strawberry, violet, crushed blueberry, raspberry, green cardamom as well as very discreet hints of Cuben pepper, a very discreet hint of toasted and almond. The palate is fruity, well-balanced and offers an acidulous/juicy beautiful frame, gourmandize, justness, a very beautiful finesse as well as a silky touch, a beautiful freshness, deepness, a controlled power, a small fat, gourmandize, a very beautiful finesse of the grain, concentration and dynamism. On the palate this wine expresses notes of pulpy cassis, bright blue plum, small notes of cornflower associated with touches of crushed blueberry, wild strawberry as well as a subtle hint of iris, small ripe red berries, green cardamom, mild tobacco, discreet hints of tonka bean and sweet spices. A very beautiful persistence which brings gourmandize on notes of crushed almond. Tannins are elegant, racy and very finely chewy. A hint of roasted almond and bitterness of the cocoa on the aftertaste.

99 Jeff Leve - The Wine Cellar Insider

Opaque in color, the perfume, with its wet earth, black cherry, black raspberries, plum liqueur, chocolate, flowers, smoke and licorice is intoxicating. Voluptuous in nature, the cashmere textures that accompany all those unctuous layers of decadently ripe fruit work together in perfect harmony. With time, this could hit triple digits if it continues developing in a positive direction, which I think it will. With the 2018 you have an evolution not a revolution; there is a small shift in style moving to a more refined elegance while retaining all its power. The wine was made from blending 65% Merlot, and 35% Cabernet Franc. With the 2018 only the oldest Cabernet Franc vines were used in the blend

98 Decanter

This is rich and complex from the very first nose, showing dense brambled fruit with real precision of expression. After a few minutes the aromatics explode, leaping out of the glass and giving an extra level of enjoyment to the wine. In the mouth, lovely vibrant tannins grip without any sense of urgency, joined by curls of woodsmoke and salt taffy through the finish. It's gorgeous and will make you smile with its mouthwatering finish. Only the oldest Cabernet Francs, aged between 60 and 80 years, went into the grand vin in 2018, meaning a little less Cabernet Franc in the blend than usual. But these old vines, planted by Stephanie de Boüard's grandfather, are rich in flavour and give saline emphasis to the finish. It's the first year that they have worked entirely organically, with a 32hl/ha yield from the harvest, which ran from 24 September to 11 October. A cold soak before fermentation was used to extract the colour and fruit flavours without too much tannin. The wine is aged in 100% oak barrels and, for the first time, a few amphorae.

98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

A blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet franc, the 2018 Angelus is deep garnet-purple in color. It spills out of the glass with exuberant notes of cherry compote, plum preserves, and blueberry pie, followed by suggestions of Chinese five spice, potpourri, and dark chocolate, with touches of rosehip tea and underbrush. The palate is super concentrated, rich and opulent, framed by firm, velvety tannins and amazing tension, finishing with epic length.

97 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2018 Angélus is striking. Cabernet Franc aromatics make a strong first impression. Vibrant and delineated, the 2018 is incredibly refined in every way. The move towards a bit less extraction really seems to let the purity of the fruit come through. The same is true of a reduction of oak. All the elements come together so effortlessly. The 2018 has all the richness readers expect of Angélus, with much more finesse and more overall vibrancy, a combination that works so well.