Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Canon la Gaffeliere delivers classic plum preserves, boysenberries and cigar box scents with wafts of underbrush, dried roses and cinnamon stick. Full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house with a solid line of grainy tannins and racy freshness supporting the dense fruit, finishing with compelling purity and great length.

This wine shows wonderfully exotic tapenade, licorice, Christmas fruitcake, cedar wood, blackberry and sweet cherry notes in its strikingly provocative aromatics. On the palate, the wine is dense and full-bodied, with stunning concentration, purity, texture and length. It is full-bodied, silky smooth and seems to have more in common with the 2009 than one might expect, although the freshness and tannin levels are slightly more elevated. Drink it over the next 20+ years. Drink: 2013 - 2033

An absolutely spectacular success once again from proprietor Stephan von Niepperg. Gilles Pauquet is the consultant and has done an exemplary job with this particular estate.
-Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #205 Feb 2013

(92-94 pts)
2010: One of the first to work with the now famous Stephane Derenoncourt, proprietor Stephan von Neipperg continues to fashion some of the most consistently outstanding wines in Bordeaux. This 2010, a blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon made from tiny yields of 28 hectoliters per hectare, achieved 14.5% natural alcohol, perhaps the highest Canon La Gaffeliere has ever achieved. Dense, sweet, open-knit black cherry, licorice, incense and cassis aromas soar from the glass of this opaque purple-colored offering. Full-bodied, pure and undeniably sexy yet larger-scaled than normal, this beautiful wine should drink well for 15 or more years.

Ripe and dense, but very, very sleek, with lovely polish to the texture, which lets the layers of plum sauce, blueberry and boysenberry fruit glide along. Powerful but perfumy. A beauty in the making. (J.M.)

This is tight and powerful. Solid frame of fruit and tannins. Curious about this. Like the 2009. This is 40 percent Cabernet Franc, 10 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 50 percent Merlot.

Tasted at the Union de Grand Cru in London. Comparing this next to the Canon, the Canon-la-Gaffeliere is patently much more opulent and modern in style with luscious dark berry fruit, bay and hints of truffle. The palate is full-bodied with sweet ripe fleshy mulberry and dark plum, hints of fig and white pepper towards the gregarious finish. It is a lovely, unashamedly exotic Saint Emilion. Tasted November 2012.

(91-93 pts)
A blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the Canon-la-Gaffeliere is demonstrating better delineation on the nose than the Clos l Oratoire with scents of black cherry, blueberry and dried apricot (reminds me of Jaffa Cakes!) The palate is full-bodied with very dense, almost oppressive tannins, a much more tannic Canon-la-Gaffliere than recent vintages, powerful and burly on the finish. This will require several years in bottle. Drink 2018- Tasted March 2011.

Good bright ruby-red. Expressive aromas of black raspberry, cassis, licorice, caramel and smoky oak are complicated by leather and game nuances. Large-scaled, rich and sweet but with harmonious acidity giving shape to the broad black and blue fruit flavors. Finishes rich and long, with surprising lift and plush, sweet tannins that reach the incisors. This is pure and balanced from the start and should age gracefully for a couple decades.

1er Grand Cru Classe St Emilion (70% New) [55M/35CF/10CS] Fresh, ripe black fruit to smell; an excellent, rich balance with the fruit presence defined by a splendid vitality and very firm tannins; long, complex, well sustained flavour, sweet, sapid, intense, with the typical Neipperg style finely oaky tannic texture, and lovely, vivid and sweetly ripe fruit persistence. Great harmony here in its particular style. The 2010 is more marked in every feature than its respective 2009, but not necessarily better; qualitatively they are currently impossible to separate, though I think I will end up preferring the 2009. As always, a more discreet wine than his La Mondotte. 2025-40 [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2011]

(55% merlot, 35% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon; 70% new oak) Medium-dark ruby-red. Spicy, perfumed aromas of superripe red cherry and plum lifted by a floral nuance. Sweet, supple and easygoing, with delicate red fruit flavors framed by harmonious acidity, which gives verve to the long, smooth finish.

Tasted blind. Deep garnet with brick rim. Minty senescent red fruits though the fruit is still sweet and spicy. Massive grip on the palate, thick and chewy and only just fresh enough. I wonder if the tannins will ever resolve? (JH)