Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere 2016

WEINWISSER: "55 % Merlot, 35 % Cabernet Franc, 10 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 60 % neue Barriques. Sattes Purpur mit violettem Rand. Was für ein berauschendes Parfüm nach Veilchen und Brombeeren, dahinter Anis, rosa Pfeffer, Schokonoten, Kokos sowie Lakritze. Am eleganten Gaumen mit enormem Tiefgang und atemberaubender Länge, im Nachhall mit schwarzen Johannisbeerdrops und Schattenmorellensaft."

JAMES SUCKLING: "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 WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "A super wine combining concentration, elegance, silky tannins and an array of floral, stone, cherry, plum, espresso, licorice and smoky essences. Give this at least a decade before popping a cork and enjoy it for the next 20 years after that."

JEB DUNNUCK: "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."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, fester Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung, mit feiner Kräuterwürze unterlegte schwarze Beerenfrucht, ein Hauch von Lakritze, dezent nach Edelholz und Grafit, dunkler Nougat. Kernig, dunkle Kirschen, straffe, gut integrierte Tannine, gute Frische, mineralisch, Herzkirschen, extraktsüßer Nachhall, gutes Reifepotenzial."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "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."

WINE SPECTATOR: "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."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2016 Canon la Gaffeliere is a blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon (vines organically certified) picked from 26 September to 15 October and matured in 60% new oak. The yield is 42 hectoliters per hectare. This offers one of the most cerebral aromatics that I have encountered from this Saint Emilion estate: mineral-rich red and black fruit, quite edgy, almost flinty in style. I adore the focus of these aromas that are wired directly into the olfactory senses. The palate is very well balanced and governed by the Cabernet component. The black fruit is lifted by some lovely graphite notes that lend it a very Left Bank-like personality. It is fresh, taut and linear with a very persistent finish. Unlike other vintages of Canon la Gaffelière, I feel that this will require four to five years in bottle. As good as the 2015 last year, it might even surpass it."

DECANTER: "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."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Not much nose but lots of mass. And tannins are still much in evidence but there is a certain sleekness. Inky finish and good drive."