Moving up the grapevine

Château Angelus is now the cream of the crop in Saint-Émilion after having been promoted from a Premier Grand Cru classé B to classé A status late last year. Stephanié de Boüard de Laforest, the estate’s deputy managing director, shares her thoughts on the new rank.

What does Château Angelus’ promotion from a Premier Grand Cru classé B to classé A in the new Classification of Saint Emilion mean for your estate?

We are very happy; we feel like a restaurant being upgraded from two to three Michelin stars, and we are now on the same level as Château Cheval Blanc and Château Ausone. My grandfather was very pleased that his younger generation of winemakers, namely my father Hubert, my uncle and I, have taken our company this far.
This new ranking rewards and recognises all the efforts we have put into our estate, which was already a renowned name in Bordeaux because of the quality of our wines and the top scores they have garnered from wine critics. We now have to work extra hard to maintain our Premier Grand Cru classé A status.

Will we see an increase in the prices of your wines, now that your estate holds a higher rank?
With our new ranking, we expect demand to go up but we won’t be increasing the prices overnight as it won’t be fair to the many loyal customers who have been following our wines over the years—we’d do it gradually over a period of five to ten years.

Excerpt from June'13 issue of epicure