The strong floral character is what you initially notice. From there you find mint, herbs, spice, smoke, tobacco and red berries on the nose. The wine shows a beautiful, vibrancy, with silky, elegant, flamboyant textures on the palate with a touch of chalk in the endnote. The wine lingers on the palate with all its ripe, sweet, plums and cherries in the finish. Blending 55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Franc, if you can wait at least 5-7 years before pulling a cork, this is going to offer superb drinking for 20-25 years after that. 95-97

Lots of blue fruits, leafy herbs, chocolate, and earthy goodness emerge from the 2020 Château Canon-La-Gaffeliere, a medium to full-bodied, dense, focused, elegant Saint-Emilion that needs plenty of air to show at its best. The purity of fruit is remarkable, and while it starts out tight and focused, it blossoms with air, showing a more expansive, layered, rich yet still fresh texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. It’s a thrilling Saint-Emilion readers should snatch up.

Very refined and polished with minerally, almost salty character. Full body and beautiful, compact tannins. Racy finish. Excellent drive to this at the end.

The 2020 Canon La Gaffelière is a strict, severe wine, almost unnaturally so. At this stage, the 2020 is all acid and tannin, and yet behind that lies a vibrant core of fruit. The big Franc aromatics, often such a signature, are nowhere to be found. Inky red berry fruit, blood orange, spice and star anise emerge with a bit of coaxing, all framed by a spine of serious tannins that are at once incisive and well-balanced. Readers should plan on being patient, as the 2020 is going to need years to come around. Despite its reticence, the 2020 appears to have significant potential down the line.

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Tasted by Jane Anson (at Primeur week tastings in Bordeaux, 01 May 2021)

Concentrated and intense, with juicy liquorice and blackberry flavours dominant on the attack. This is an excellent wine showing beautiful tension with slate and crushed stone texture. Chocolate shavings, bitter and intense, give a kick on the finish. Even better after 24 hours of opening, which is an extremely good sign for an en primeur sample. A yield of 32.5hl/ha. 50% new oak.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2044

The 2020 Canon-la-Gaffelière is beautifully defined on the nose, featuring lavish black cherries, boysenberry, tobacco and cracked black pepper aromas. This is endowed with impressive precision and the oak is very well integrated. The medium-bodied palate delivers sappy black fruit, fine balance and poise and a lightly spiced, edgy, almost citrus-like finish. Packed to the rafters with vim and vigor, this is a superb Saint-Émilion.

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(55% M, 30% CF, 15% CS; 32hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; 50% new)
That attractive Cabernet Franc wild-rose, herbal, floral character to smell; a fine balance, medium-full, fresh, finely tannic, typically harmonious; top St-Emilion, characteristically classy, refined, long, and subtle, and with Cabernet-Franc-fine, racy, scented length. A beautiful wine, dense yet light-seeming, too. 2028–50+.

55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cask sample.
Almost earthy, vineyard-fresh feel to the nose and palate. Flows gently, building discreetly to a persistent finish. Attractive fruit and fine-grained tannins. Ageing potential. (JL)