Chateau Tour Bayard Cuvee L'Angelot 2012 - Bordeaux, France

91/100 James Suckling (2010 vintage)
90/100 CellarTracker (2010 vintage)
Bronze - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (2010 vintage)
Bronze - Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider (2010 vintage)
14.4/20 Bettane et Desseauve (2009 vintage)

2 Stars - The Hachette Wine Guide

The Hachette Wine Guide “Black robe, vanillin, grilled, spicy and beneath, black fruit, violets, pepper, truffle. In the mouth: well-built, powerful, warm, tannic, surprising maturity.”

Natalie Maclean "Plush, smooth with a layer of fruit and many herbs”

Great Bordeaux Wines "The 2012 L’Angelot is characterised as “powerful backbone, marked acidity, fine structure and gives a sense of style". 

James Suckling "Floral nose with violets and raspberries. Fresh leather and some irony notes. Nice intensity on the palate with a beautiful finish with the same violet character as in the nose. Well structured and ripe chewy tannins." (2010 vintage)

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate "The basic cuvee is attractive, dark ruby, with a somewhat masculine, chunky, burly personality, but lots of sweet red and black fruits and undertones of damp earth and forest floor." (2010 vintage)

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider "It is fun tasting older vintages of this 95% Malbec from Bordeaux. Mature, full-bodied, rich, spicy, robust, and cherry-filled, with spicy, peppery, herbal accents accompanying the dark red fruits, this is ready for its prime time window." (2010 vintage)

Chateau Tour Bayard is on two Saint-Emilion satellite appellations: 15 hectares in Montagne Saint-Emilion and 10 hectares in Puisseguin Saint-Emilion. The vineyards are planted on magnificent clay and limestone slopes planted with 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec. Julien Richard took over from his mother Fanny in 2012 and has since been working to protect the estate’s biodiversity using the know-how that he inherited from his grandfather Angelo Nicoletti. Since 1956 the successive generations have made every effort to give priority to the terroir without using any herbicides. Since 2018, the vineyard is certified HEV3 (High Environmental Value), is harvested by hand and is now in conversion to organic farming.