Wine Advisor
Canon La Gaffeliere 2008
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Lovely rich supple nose with black cherries, blueberry, a touch of hawthorn and a touch of cedar. Very well defined. The palate is full-bodied, quite powerful but focused with good acidity cutting through those thick black fruits. Very good weight, this is a Canon la Gaffeliere approaching full thrust but maintaining its poise and class. Tasted September 2009.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Saint Emilion Grand Cru tasting in London. The Canon-la-Gaffeliere 08 has a lovely bouquet with bright black plum and red cherries, well-integrated creamy oak, fresh and vibrant. The palate is well balanced with saturated tannins, good acidity and one of the few Saint Emilions with firm backbone. Good persistency on the saline finish. It is perhaps in its shell at the moment but it will break on through to the other side. Tasted February 2011.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A sensational sleeper of the vintage, this modern-styled St.-Emilion boasts a dark purple color along with a beautiful bouquet of black olives, cherry jam, incense, spicy oak and black currants. Full-bodied, unctuously textured, lush, seductive and gloriously perfumed, this strikingly intense claret can be drunk now and over the next 12-15 years. Bravo!
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted ex-chateau and single blind in Southwold. The nose on this bottle is rather strange, with a slight metallic note and a touch of reduction. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins, a little hardness on the mid-palate, although there is sufficient fruit on the finish to augur for long-term ageing. Tasted January 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
One of the most consistently high quality offerings from both St.-Emilion and Bordeaux, proprietor Stefan von Neipperg, working with consultant Stephane Derenoncourt, always seems to deliver a beautifully opulent, complex claret that can be drunk young or cellared for 15+ years. I recently had the 1998 and 1990 and, although those two vintages are very different in style, both are classic Canon la Gaffelieres in their complexity, opulence, and richness. The 2008, a blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, exhibits a big, sweet nose of roasted herbs, sweet black currants and cherries, licorice, incense, and Christmas fruitcake. Deep, concentrated fruit, full-bodied opulence, beautiful purity, sweet tannins, and fresh acids give this wine a stunning precision as well as amazing depth (because of the low yields). It should drink well for 15+ years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the UGC 2008 tasting in London. The nose races out of the blocks with black cherries, cassis, Hoi sin and a touch of Chinese 5-spice. Good definition – very confident. The palate is medium-bodied with layers of ripe red fruit: redcurrant, pomegranate, a touch of white pepper and very well integrated oak. Great length and sense of dimension here as it fans out across the finish. Superb! Drink 2013-2025+ Tasted October 2010.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
En primeur barrel sample. This has a fine, vibrant nose with brambly black fruits, a hint of sous-bois and liquorices. Good definition but tightly coiled. The palate is nicely balanced, quite chewy tannins and very linear towards the grainy black cherry and boysenberry finish. Classy, but not what you might describe as an explosive wine. Tasted April 2009.
About the Producer
Château Canon La Gaffelière is a well-regarded Premier Grand Cru Classé wine estate in the Saint-Émilion region of northeastern Bordeaux. The château is known for the elegance and finesse of its wines as much as it is for its owner: Count Stephan von Neipperg. The estate and château lies just south of Saint-Émilion town and was promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé 2012. Canon La Gaffelière's 19.5-hectare (48-acre) vineyard is a mix of clay-limestone and clay-sand soils, with predominantly sandy topsoils. These characteristics are well-suited to the grape varieties planted here with the vineyards composed of 55 percent Merlot, 40 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. At harvest, the grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed without crushing, then fermented in temperature-controlled wooden vats. They are then aged in mostly new oak barrels for up to 20 months. The Canon La Gaffelière estate began as two separate holdings in the 19th Century: Canon Boitard and La Gaffelière Boitard. They were eventually combined, and then acquired by the Von Neipperg family in 1971. Current proprietor Count Stephan von Neipperg also owns La Mondotte, Clos de L'Oratoire and Château Peyreau in Saint-Émilion, plus a handful of other estates around Bordeaux.
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