Château Canon La Gaffelière 2015

Château Canon La Gaffelière is the pride and joy of the well-respected von Neipperg family in Saint-Émilion. The estate was classified as a Saint-Émillion Premiere Grand Cru Classés Class B in 2012 after decades of hard work.  The wine of Château Canon La Gaffelière is powerful, complex and dense.  Since 2014, the scores of this property are on the steady climb, and these multi-layered, perfumed, richly concentrated wines are a worthy purchase for any oenophile who loves to experience the choicest offerings of Saint-Émilion.
 
Château Canon La Gaffelière initially had two separate names in the 19th Century.  The property was once known as Canon Boitard and La Gaffelière-Boitard.  The early owners decided to simplify things by combining the names and thus, Château Canon La Gaffelière was born.  The real history of the estate began when the Von Neipperg family purchased the property in 1971.  The von Neipperg family is a well-known German family of vignerons in the wine world.  They have been involved in viticulture for 800 years, making wine in Germany since the 13th Century.  The von Neippergs began to purchase land in Saint-Émilion in 1983 and devoted themselves to each property they acquired.  Terroir is the most important philosophy for this family of winemakers, and though each property they own subscribes to similar vinification and viticultural practices, the wines are all strikingly different.  Château Canon La Gaffelière is their main production while Château La Mondotte is their more coveted sister property due to the much smaller size.  They firmly believe if one shows respect to the land and vineyards, the wine will reflect that.  Clearly, they are doing something right.
 
The terroir at Château Canon La Gaffelière is a mixture of clay, sand and limestone soils that are signature to the Right Bank region.  It’s a bit warmer in this portion of Saint-Émilion, and the clay here is signature to retaining heat and assisting in ripening the vines.  The vineyards at Château Canon La Gaffelière are a mixture of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon.  Though the von Neippergs acknowledge that Merlot is the star of the Right Bank, they also have a profound respect for Cabernet Franc and the layers it brings to the wines from this region.  This carries through in the grand vin of Château Canon La Gaffelière, for there is no shortage of complexity in this wine.
 
The viticultural practices over at Château Canon La Gaffelière are all about sustainable farming.  Here, organic compost is used with a mixture of regular ploughing  to help with aeration.  From some plots in Château Canon La Gaffelière, the legendary property Château Ausone can be seen.  The grapes are 100% Organically Certified, and some of the oldest vines on the property are 80 years old.  The grapes are harvested by hand, and the wine is vinified in a gravity flow winery. The wine of Château Canon La Gaffelière does require at least 10-15 years bottle ageing due to its complexity.  It needs that time to lay down and reveal the gorgeously floral secondary characteristics associated with this profound wine. 
 

''Composed of 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged in French oak, 55% new, for 17 months, the 2015 Canon la Gaffeliere features a deep garnet-purple color and a cedar-laced nose to begin, giving way to fragrant underlying scents of roses and violets with a core of crushed black currants, blackberries and Bing cherries plus hints of fallen leaves and dusty earth. Medium to full-bodied, the seductively perfumed red and black fruit fills the mouth, framed with plush tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing very long and minerally.'' Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate (02/21/2018) Ratings: 97 Drink: 2023-2040

"The 2015 Canon la Gaffeliere is a blend of 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon picked between 19 September and 6 October at 37 hl/ha and matured in 55% new oak barrels. It has another "cool" bouquet, a common thread among Comte Stephan Von Neipperg's 2015s - very restrained at first, nicely focused and gradually revealing undergrowth and even a subtle charcoal scent (probably from the Cabernet Sauvignon). The palate is medium-bodied with black fruit laced with graphite and cedar, the Cabernet brothers really defining the character of this Saint Emilion and edging it towards say, more Figeac in style. This is a fascinating 2015, more cerebral than previous vintages that I have tasted over the years." - Neal Martin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (4/27/2016, Issue 224), Ratings: 94, Drink: 2020-2045

''From an incredible terroir just outside the village of Saint-Emilion and a blend of 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc and the balance Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2015 Chateau Canon-La-Gaffeliere is a beautiful, elegant, complex beauty readers should snatch up. Blueberries, violets/spring flowers, Asian spices, and a salty minerality all emerge from this full-bodied, yet elegant 2015 that has sweet tannin, a big mid-palate, and a great, great finish. Still tight and reserved, give bottle 3-5 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following two decades or more.'' Jeb Dunnuck, 2015 Bordeaux from Bottle (11/30/2017) Ratings: 95 Drink: 2021-2041