Château Canon-La-Gaffelière - Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (Premier Grand Cru Classé) 2016 (750ml)

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Price: $139.99

Producer	Château Canon-La-Gaffelière
Country	France
Region	Bordeaux
Subregion	Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
Varietal	Merlot
Vintage	2016
Sku	102025
Size	750ml
ABV	14.50%

Château Canon-La-Gaffelière Description

Château La Gaffelière seems emerging from History.

Through the presence of its vines since the Gallo-Roman era, its name dragged from the leprous hospital or « gaffet » in the mediaeval epoch, and the owners grand genealogy ; the Malet Roquefort family, living for 4 centuries in Saint-Emilion, is acknowledged as the most ancient family of the area.

The Castel itself relays, through its architecture, modes and inspirations of numerous generations. It's in this way that we can see a fifteenth century vaulted kitchen, discover a nineteenth century pigeon house - become a pool-house at the end of the twentieth century -, and pass through a seventeenth and eighteenth centuries wing which shelters the reception rooms.

This heredity confers to the Malet Roquefort family a motivating responsibility that the actual owner, the Count Léo de Malet Roquefort, builds on to renovate of course, but also to perpetuate the traditions which have allowed expanding the fame of Château La Gaffelière all around the world.

The choice of grape varieties is rather atypical for the appellation in light of the soil: almost a perfect 50/50 divide between Merlot and Cabernet. The Cabernets ripen early and remarkably well on Canon La Gaffelière's warm soil, adding power and aromatic complexity to Merlot's opulence to create wines of natural elegance and finesse.

Blend: 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon

Critical Acclaim

JS96
James Suckling
The aromas are very complex with sweet tobacco, black truffles, blueberries and blackberries. Subtle. Menthol, too. Full-bodied yet so elegant. Structure with finesse and purity. The tannins are melted in the wine. Fabulous young wine. Try tasting it from 2023.
V96
Vinous
The 2016 Canon La Gaffelière is just as striking from bottle as it was from barrel. Bright, intensely aromatic and precise, the 2016 has it all. Sweet red cherry, pomegranate, blood orange and rose petal all race through this silky, super-expressive Saint-Émilion. In 2016, Canon La Gaffelière is especially polished, refined and nuanced, which means also less overly powerful than in the past. It was compelling both times I tasted it from bottle.
WE95
Wine Enthusiast

Bold tannins, rich fruit and good acidity combine in a wine that is powerful while always fresh. With acidity and stylish black-currant flavors, the wine’s fruitiness comes through the tannins, finishing with a juicy, perfumed aftertaste. Best after 2025.

WS95
Wine Spectator
This delivers a very fresh, juicy ball of red and black currant preserve flavors laced liberally with bramble, roasted apple wood and sweet tobacco notes. Shows terrific purity, energy and drive, with a piercing echo of minerality through the mouthwatering finish. Best from 2022 through 2038.
RP95
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2016 Canon la Gaffeliere is a blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon (vines organically certified) picked from 26 September to 15 October and matured in 60% new oak. The yield is 42 hectoliters per hectare. This offers one of the most cerebral aromatics that I have encountered from this Saint Emilion estate: mineral-rich red and black fruit, quite edgy, almost flinty in style. I adore the focus of these aromas that are wired directly into the olfactory senses. The palate is very well balanced and governed by the Cabernet component. The black fruit is lifted by some lovely graphite notes that lend it a very Left Bank-like personality. It is fresh, taut and linear with a very persistent finish. Unlike other vintages of Canon la Gaffelière, I feel that this will require four to five years in bottle. As good as the 2015 last year, it might even surpass it.

Rating: 93-95 Points

JD95
Jeb Dunnuck
One of the most elegant and seamless wines in the vintage is the 2016 Canon-la-Gaffelière, a blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in 60% new French oak. This medium to full-bodied beauty has brilliant minerality as well as tons of cassis fruits, notions of spice box, cedarwood, licorice, and dried earth, silky tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. It shows the purity and elegance of the vintage to a T. Drink this fabulous Saint-Emilion any time over the coming 20+ years.
D93
Decanter

Another successful wine in St-Émilion, with the signature of careful extraction. Well-brushed black fruits and a lovely push-and-pull effect between supple tannins, rich fruits and fresh acidity. Certified organic since the 2014 vintage. Drinking Window 2027 - 2045

CG91
Connoisseurs' Guide

Leading with a lovely, slightly sweet nose of red cherries and hardwoods and showing both a certain degree of elegance as well as an augmented sense of continuing fruity richness in its fairly bright and lively young flavors, this rich and yet decidedly graceful wine is predisposed more to polish than power. That said, it is no shrinking violet and has energy to spare as well as the silky, very fine tannins to warrant at least another five to eight years of keeping.

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