Concept
La Part des Anges
The angel's share. The wine or spirit that evaporates annually from an oak barrel during cask ageing. Champagne 1-2% per year, sherry 3-5%, cognac 2-4%.
What it is
La part des anges (French for “the angels’ share”) is the wine or spirit that evaporates annually from an oak barrel during ageing. The term comes from the French cognac tradition: the loss was not booked as waste but as an offering to angels. The phrase is now used worldwide for every cask-aged drink.
The mechanism is physical: oak is porous enough that water and alcohol slowly diffuse through the barrel wall. Internal air pressure tracks the outside, so no extreme driving force, but over years the losses add up. In humid storage (Cognac, Champagne cellars) mostly alcohol evaporates; in dry storage (Andalusia) mostly water.
Loss per category
| Wine / spirit | Climate | Loss per year | |---|---|---| | Champagne in foudres | Reims crayères, cool-humid | 0.5-1% | | Sherry (Jerez, classical bota) | Andalusian, warm-dry | 3-5% | | Vin jaune (Jura) | Continental, cool-humid | 1-3% | | Cognac (Charente) | Atlantic, humid | 2-3% | | Bourbon (Kentucky) | Continental, warm-humid | 2-4% | | Single malt (Scotland) | Maritime, humid | 1-2% |
The variance explains a lot: a sherry VORS at thirty years average can have lost up to 80% of its original volume. A Champagne in foudre at a fraction of that loss rate. The compound effect drives sweet sherry prices up: less volume per original cask = higher price per bottle.
Concentration effect
When water evaporates faster than alcohol (warm, dry conditions), the alcohol level in the remaining wine rises. That is a central element in sherry production. A Palomino fortified to 17% in a new Oloroso solera can reach 22% alcohol after 30 years through cumulative water loss. No additional fortification needed, only time.
Similar in cognac: a vat XO (10-15 years old) typically holds 50-60% alcohol, while the same vat started at 70%. The evaporated alcohol has literally “gone to the angels”.
Economic impact
A sherry bodega with 1,000 active botas loses 30,000-50,000 litres per year to evaporation. At an average wine value of €10 per litre that is €300,000-500,000 annually. For cognac houses the value is higher (€20-100 per litre, especially for old vintages).
This also explains why old sherries and cognacs are disproportionately expensive relative to their storage period: not only does time cost money, but every litre lost pushes the price of the remaining bottles up.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called “the angels’ share”?
A religious-romantic concept from the 17th-century Cognac district. Cognac makers calculated their loss and recorded it not as waste but as an offering. The term spread to other wine and spirit regions. No scientific meaning, but the name is so embedded that it appears in all official documentation.
Can the evaporation be prevented?
Not without undermining the cask ageing itself. Oak is porous by definition; only stainless tanks give zero evaporation but also no barrel character. Modern techniques (light coatings, reduced air exchange) cut loss by ~20% but change the ageing outcome too. Classical producers accept the loss as part of the process.
How much does the angels’ share cost an average Champagne house?
Lower than for sherry or cognac because Champagne ageing happens mostly in bottle, not in cask. Reserve wines in foudres at Krug, Bollinger and Roederer lose 0.5-1% per year. For a house with 50,000 hl of reserve wine that is 25,000-50,000 litres per year, ~€100,000-200,000 at base price.