Château Angélus

With high-profile associations including a high-grossing film franchise and various Michelin-starred restaurants, Château Angélus clearly enjoys being in the limelight. But what’s the story behind this acclaimed St-Emilion estate and its distinctive label?

- JANE ANSON

Moneypenny, James Bond, Q. Not a bad trio for your wine to share the screen with in its latest cameo. I’ll try not to give too many spoilers if you haven’t yet seen No Time To Die, but I don’t think it gives too much away to say that Bond can’t resist swiping two generous glasses of Château Angélus (2005, although you don’t see the vintage on screen) for himself and Moneypenny from a bottle that Q had carefully opened for his date later that night. This is the third Bond film in which Angélus has made an appearance; the 1982 was drunk by Vesper Lynd and Bond on the train to Montenegro in Casino Royale, while the 2005 vintage can be spotted in Spectre.

The association with Bond has taken the already-famous label – pale yellow, distinctive black writing surrounding a golden bell – to an audience of billions worldwide. So far, so clever product placement. But the bell, as with so much of the story of this wine, is not just smart marketing but an authentic symbol of the roots and location of the winery itself. It has been on every Angélus label since the 1945 vintage, and is a reference to the bells that you can hear from this spot – on the northwestern edges of St-Emilion. Here, in the biggest of the communes that surround the town, to its west, there are records of vines growing as far back as the 12th century.

The vines are on south-facing slopes that follow a natural amphitheatre shape, from where you can hear the ringing bells of three neighbouring church towers – belonging to the Mazerat chapel, St-Martin-de-Mazerat church and the main St-Emilion church. Even the name Angélus is a reference to these bells ringing out the call to the Angelus prayer, which used to punctuate the working day in the morning, noon and evening.