2014 | Château La Gaffelière | Saint-Emilion

A lovely blackberry puree note leads this off, followed by hints of fig and plum. Alluring licorice and juniper flavors start to fill in, backed by an accent of smoldering tobacco.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2014 La Gaffeliere appears to have improved since it's showing in barrel (I did hint at this at the time). The nose is perfumed and slightly floral, certainly well defined with neatly integrated oak, dark fruit emerging with aeration in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly edgy, chalky tannin on the entry, shrouded by plenty of dusky black fruit and a potent, graphite-tinged finish. This is one to watch.

• James Suckling: I love the precision and verve to this with berry, sliced mushroom and flower characters. Full body, yet so tight and refined. Beautiful length and focus.

Producer Information

Château La Gaffelière is a Bordeaux wine estate in the appellation of Saint-Émilion. It is ranked as a Premier Grand Cru Classé B, and is one of the oldest family-owned vineyards in the region. Like many of its neighbors, Château La Gaffelière's wine is Merlot-dominant, with a small proportion of Cabernet Franc. The estate is located just south of Saint-Émilion town, with the château buildings at the foot of the so-called St-Emilion plateau (Premier Grand Cru Classé A Château Ausone lies at the top of the slope while Château Pavie – promoted to "A" status in 2012 – sits to the east). La Gaffelière's vineyards lie on the lower slope, facing broadly southeast. In all, the property boasts 22 hectares (54 acres) of vineyard, of which roughly 70 percent is planted to Merlot and 30 percent to Cabernet Franc. In the winery, the grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, with malolactic fermentation taking place in barrel. The wine is aged in French oak barrels (of which, on average, about half are new oak) for up to 20 months. The estate also makes a second, Merlot-dominant wine from the lower, more clay-based slopes on the property. Called Clos Gaffelière (or Dame Gaffelière, depending on the market it is sold in), the wine was launched in the mid-1980s and is produced in its own cellar in the winery. In all, Château La Gaffelière produces approximately 80,000 bottles of wine annually. Château La Gaffelière should not be confused with the adjacent but separately-owned Château Canon La Gaffelière, though both were once part of a larger estate. This was founded on the site of a 17th-Century leper colony – gaffet translates to 'leper'. Until 1961, the estate was known as La Gaffelière-Naudes.

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