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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.4 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 16 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 3/9/2024 & rated 94 points: Elegant, refined, supple and fresh, initially you notice its bouquet filled flowers, dark cherries, spearmint, flowers, red fruits and spices. The palate is already offering its array or sweet, red berries, with their chalky accents. All of the oak has completely integrated leaving you with the vestiges of supple-textured, red fruits, spices, salt, and crushed stones. Utilizing 45% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, it is interesting to note this blend represents the highest portion of Cabernet used in the history of the estate. in the blend. Drink from 2025-2050. (534 views) | | | Tasted by FransS on 3/4/2024 & rated 92 points: UGCB tasting-Amsterdam 2021 Bordeaux 03-04-2024: a whiff of sweetness in the nose, smooth spices, in the taste a kind of modest sweetness too, roundness and lovely bitters in the smooth aftertaste at the age of two and a half years. I suggest that '21 develops quite quickly. (372 views) | | | Tasted by Xavier Auerbach on 3/4/2024 & rated 93 points: Amsterdam UGCB Tasting (Zuiderkerk): Cheerful, floral, mild tannins, hint of cream, red berries, supple, chalky minerality, lovely balance and length. Stylish. (649 views) | | | Tasted by Zweder on 3/4/2024 & rated 92 points: UGCB Amsterdam, walkaround tasting so just short notes.: Red berries, some herbs and spices, good acidity and slightly sticky tannin. Good length. (467 views) | | | Tasted by vvWine.ch on 3/1/2024 & rated 95 points: Was für eine Nase, florale Noten, reife Kirschen, Pflaumen, Früchtetee, verspielt und dennoch mit Tiefgang. Im Gaumen frisch, lebendig, keinerlei Schwere, das tänzelt förmlich, hat Rasse und Präzision, von allem genug, von nichts zu viel. Sehr langer, würziger und mineralischer Abgang. Ein Erfolg. 2025-2045 (Verkostet im November 2023 in Zürich bei UGCB) (342 views) | | | Tasted by englishman's claret on 1/26/2024 & rated 93 points: Dark red fruit, tobacco, green peppercorn, mineral. Nice fullness in the mouth and finishes pretty well. 92-93. (772 views) | | | Tasted by MRichman on 1/25/2024: UGC Bordeaux 2021, SF: Sweetish and a bit overdone. Just ok. (366 views) | | | Tasted by KeithAkers on 1/24/2024 & rated 89 points: UGC 2021 Bordeaux (Vibiana, Los Angeles, CA): The nose is balanced and aromatic with tones of red cherries, red currants, tobacco leaf, red fruits, fresh herbs, licorice, and some spice notes. The Medium bodied feel carries through the balance of the nose with medium acidity and somewhat stiff, medium tannins that feel more underripe than they are structured. This lacked a bit on the midpalate and the finish was slightly clipped. The nose was better than the palate and this could improve with time, but it won't ever be considered a top Canon-la-Gaffeliere. (418 views) | | | Tasted by Jake Barnes on 1/23/2024: Tasted at the UGC at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.
First, a few words about the vintage as it was revealed to me this evening. I was always taught, of course, that if you don’t have anything nice to say that you shouldn’t say anything at all, and in the words of twentieth-century British poet Philip Larkin, I’m struggling to “find words at once true and kind, or not untrue and not unkind.” I’m afraid, however, there are no two ways about it—this is not a good vintage, and it can be summed up as thin, tart, sour, cranberry, acidic, and oaky. Critics have said this is a heterogenous vintage, but I don’t think that’s true based on tonight. I felt like I was tasting slightly better and slightly worse versions of the same mediocre, tart, oaky, cranberry-filled wines all night.
Critics are also spinning 2021 as a vintage for lovers of classical, low alcohol Bordeaux. I quite like a stoic, low alcohol wine myself, but this is just…. Well, let’s just say that for me this vintage will probably not even serve as an early drinker while waiting for better vintages to come around. The quality is just too low and the prices too high for that. In virtually all cases here tonight, the quality seems to be magnitudes lower than it is in the 2014 through 2020 vintages, and in most cases, the wines are only marginally less expensive than the 2020s were. In some instances they’re even more expensive (Prieure Lichine, for example). I can’t see buying any of these wines over virtually any of the same wines from the 2014 through 2020 vintages, many of which can still be had for nearly the same price or just a bit more than what is being asked for the 2021s.
In finality, there’s just no value proposition here. I’m going to forget about this vintage and load up on the 2014 through 2020 vintages.
Tasting Note:
I will say it was fun being served by a real count (Comte de Niepperg himself was at the table doing the pouring), but that won’t make me buy this wine. Comte de Niepperg assured us that this was an “elegant” vintage, which maybe it is for this wine, but in the larger context, I would say it had much better concentration than most of the wines I tasted. Of course, it was full of crunchy cranberry fruit, like all the wines, but it had very good focus and balance, unlike so many of the others. Clearly, they made the most of what they had. A fairly complete wine showing a judicious use of oak, too. Second only to Lynch Bages and tied with Brane Cantenac, Giscours, Les Carmes Haut Brion, and surprisingly D’Angludet as the best of the rest. Unknown ABV **(*) (379 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 1/23/2024 & rated 90 points: UGC Bordeaux (Drake Hotel - Chicago IL): Walkaround tasting. Tasty black fruits with spice and earth hints. Well balanced already with charming textures. Good from as soon as 2027. Maybe one of the good values of the vintage. (478 views) | | | Tasted by oldwines on 1/22/2024 & rated 93 points: Union Des Grands Crus Bordeaux (New York City, NY, USA): Balanced and quite pretty. Has layers of red fruit, herbs and wet stony minerals. Nice length on the finish. (537 views) | | | Tasted by Dr.Cork on 1/20/2024 & rated 87 points: UGCB Millésime 2021 (Montréal, QC, Canada): Peu expressif, bouche mince, vraiment pas le CLG que j'attendais. Peut-être une bouteille sous-optimale ? (320 views) | | | Tasted by sirpat00 on 11/6/2023 & rated 92 points: Bordeaux 2021 Arrivage Tasting (Dolder Grand, Zurich): Ripe cherry fruit with elements of dried fig, hence unusually ripe but on balance still more fresh fruit. Iron-like minerality and dried herbs. Structured palate, but with rather drying tannin and limited mid-palate. (492 views) | | | Tasted by vvWine.ch on 6/20/2022 & rated 95 points: (94-96 vvPunkte) Was für eine Nase, florale Noten, reife Kirschen, Pflaumen, Früchtetee, verspielt und dennoch mit Tiefgang. Im Gaumen frisch, lebendig, keinerlei Schwere, das tänzelt förmlich, hat Rasse und Präzision, von allem genug, von nichts zu viel. Sehr langer, würziger und mineralischer Abgang. Ein Erfolg. 2025-2045 (Verkostet "En Primeur" im April 2022. UGCB) vvWine.ch (3556 views) | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 5/20/2022 & rated 94 points: On the nose you find cigar wrapper, spearmint, flowers, leafy herbs, red fruits and spices. Fresh, crisp, elegant, bright, chewy and chalky on the palate, this is what modern classic Bordeaux is all about. The wine finishes with sweet, red fruits before moving to the intense minerality and spicy notes in the backend. Blending 45% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% ABV. The blend represents the highest portion of Cabernet in the blend. Yields were only 30 hectoliters per hectare due to frost and mildew. The harvest took place, September 28 - October 14. Drink from 2025-2048. 93-95 (2061 views) |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2021 Bordeaux: L’Enfant Terrible (Feb 2024) (2/1/2024)
(Canon-La-Gaffelière Canon-La-Gaffelière Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, January 2024 (1/1/2024)
(Château Canon-la-Gaffelière St Emilion Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Tom Parker MW
JancisRobinson.com (11/8/2023)
(Ch Canon La Gaffelière St-Émilion Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Julia Harding, MW
JancisRobinson.com (10/11/2023)
(Ch Canon La Gaffelière St-Émilion Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, 2021 Bordeaux: A Challenging Yet Good Vintage (6/2/2022)
(Chateau Canon-La-Gaffeliere) Login and sign up and see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (5/10/2022)
(Château Canon-La Gaffelière St.-Emilion, France) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur: Back to Classicism (May 2022) (5/1/2022)
(Canon La Gaffelière Canon La Gaffelière Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Neal Martin
Vinous, Enticingly Fallible: Bordeaux 2021 En Primeur (May 2022) (5/1/2022)
(Canon La Gaffelière Canon La Gaffelière Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Georgina Hindle
Decanter, Bordeaux En Primeur 2021 (4/1/2022)
(Château Canon-la-Gaffelière, Cabernet Franc, St-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, April 2022 (4/1/2022)
(Château Canon-la-Gaffelière St Emilion Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Neal Martin
Vinous, 2+2=5: Bordeaux 2021 In Bottle (Feb 2024)
(Canon La Gaffelière Canon La Gaffelière Red) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and Winedoctor and JancisRobinson.com and JebDunnuck.com and JamesSuckling.com and Decanter. (manage subscription channels) |
| Château Canon-la-Gaffelière Producer website - Read more about Chateau Canon La GaffeliereRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanLibournais Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines
Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC
In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.
As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market
Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.
The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.
By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.
Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.
Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.
The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.
The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).
Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?St. Émilion Grand Cru Les Vins de St. Émilion (Syndicate Vitocole de Saint-Emilion) – Read about St. Emilion
Vins de Bordeaux:
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Soil: Sandy soils with alluvial gravel deposits
Surface Area: 4,160 ha |
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