Winemaker Notes
Blend: 40% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2025 Canon La Gaffelière is bright and beautifully focused right out of the gate. Orange peel, sage, mint, pipe tobacco, dried flowers and mocha soar out of the glass. Floral aromatics and brisk saline notes are the signatures in a tightly wound Canon La Gaffelière that is going to need a number of years to be at its most expressive. I especially admire the energy here. –Antonio Galloni
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Decanter
Beautiful aromatics, floral notes and Chinese five spice with some sweet red berry fruit. Juicy and lifted, a really lovely calm, chiselled and soft frame with velvety tannins and ripe but cool fruit. Acidity is not too tight and this has a generous but controlled element. Balanced and poised but maybe missing a touch more density of fruit. Lovely layering of texture and aromatic complexity.
Barrel Sample -
James Suckling
Well driven, velvety and precise, with red berry and leather aromas. Medium-bodied with fine, firm tannins. Crushed berry and dark chocolate flavors and a compact, savory finish.
Barrel Sample: 94-95 -
Jeb Dunnuck
A lighter, more herbal-styled wine based on 40% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2025 Château Canon-La-Gaffelière offers juicy red fruits, sappy flowers, graphite, tobacco, and a kiss of minerality on the nose. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, with fine, polished tannins and a good finish. It's a more Cabernet-dominated effort from this château, and while I'd love to see a touch more generosity here, it's beautifully balanced, and I suspect it will gain volume over the course of its élevage.
Barrel Sample: 92-94
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.