Château Canon La Gaffelière 2016

Crisp, compact, well-structured, with polish; it remains elegant despite its richness—thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

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. 6,917 cases made.

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. Drink from 2025.

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.

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.

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.

It is hard to believe you can buy a wine this good, with bottle age at this price. Packed with ripe, energetic, silky, red, and black fruits, the wine expresses purity, elegance, length, and depth. There is minerality, freshness, and while it is simply, fabulous to taste today, it is going to improve for the next 20 years with ease. Drink from 2024-2056.

Deep ruby, intense core, violet glints with a paler hue at the rim. Delicate savoury scents underlaid with black berry nuances, a pinch of liquorice, subtle hints of hardwood, graphite and dark nougat. On the palate, intense dark cherries, taut, well-integrated tannins, lovely crispness plus minerality with notions of sweetheart cherries and marked by an expressive aftertaste. Very good ageing potential.

Nuanced nose with finely roasted notes, coffee mocha, ripe dark fruit and spice box. The palate is dense and vigorous with fine proportions, grainy tannin, flavour intense with digest dark fruit, underlying freshness, a nice touch of roasted oak with a long, dense and meaty finish.

One of the most elegant and seamless wines in the vintage is the 2016 Chateau 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.

55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 60% new barriques. Deep purple with a violet rim. What an intoxicating bouquet of violets and blackberries, followed by anise, pink pepper, chocolate notes, coconut, and licorice. On the elegant palate, tremendous depth and breathtaking length, with a finish of blackcurrant candies and sour cherry juice. For Stephan, the 2016 vintage has the density of 2009 and the freshness of 2014. He pauses briefly and adds with a mischievous grin: “It just occurred to me that the best comparison for the 2016 is the 2016!”

Kunz barrel sample 17: (55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Franc, 42 hl/ha) A velvety, dense, fresh, complex, sweet bouquet: Damson plums, violet, toasted notes, tobacco, cedar. Concentrated, multi-layered, balanced, elegant palate with dense, fine fruit, plenty of good tannin, concentrated, highly varied aromatics, a creamy, finely muscular structure, and a long, dense, subtly lush finish with many lingering notes. (19/20). 20: Deep garnet with a rich core. The aromatic profile is dark, still closed, and shows great depth: Irish moss, black currant, freshly cracked black pepper, liquorice, and Californian prunes. On the palate it is fleshy and full, with a powerful attack. It will develop into a classic that rewards patience and is, in essence, built precisely to reveal its terroir to the fullest at maturity. (19/20).

Velvety, dense, complex and still closed bouquet: cherries, redcurrant, light tobacco, blackberry jelly. The palate is dense, layered and elegant, tightly knit, with precise fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a powerful dark aromatic profile, and a finely concentrated structure. Long, intense, fresh finish. 19/20 2023 - 2050

Pumice, slate, oyster, raspberry, damson, cocoa bean, licorice root, great quality, edges of austerity among the fleshiness, love the push and pull of this exceptional wine.

The 2016 Canon la Gaffeliere has a deep garnet color. It bursts on the scene with exuberant notes of juicy blackberries, plum preserves, and fruit cake, plus suggestions of clove oil, mocha, and Indian spices. The full-bodied palate is full-on rich and decadent, featuring velvety tannins and just enough freshness to match the concentrated black fruit and spicy layers, finishing with epic length.

The wine is closing up. It had to be tasted several times and well aerated to finally rediscover the cuvée’s signature velvety texture, unfolding a richly structured, silky fruit character and a fresh finish marked by the quality of the Cabernet Franc.

A subtle hint of smoke for this wine, which is very floral on the nose. Great depth defines its elegance, underpinned by a note of tobacco. It stands out for its fresh tannins, with a touch of tobacco and cocoa on the finish.

So much intensity and freshness in the bouquet of Canon La Gaffelière 2016. On the one hand, notes of truffle and, above all, refreshing chalky nuances complemented by hints of liquorice. With powerful tannins, the wine shines with harmony thanks to a perfect balance between its fleshy side and the tautness of its acidic structure.

Dark colour, slightly evolved, with good intensity. Moderately aromatic nose with ripe, smooth fruit. A caressing palate, pleasant on the tongue, delicately perfumed from mid-palate through to the finish, then mellow, ending with a normal length and no angularity.