Château Canon La Gaffelière 2003

The 2003 vintage in Saint-Émilion

Vintage benchmark: 87/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: The heatwave pushed the merlots into overripeness: rich, jammy wines, fresher on the clays of Pomerol.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Émilion. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

A rather intellectual wine, marked by finesse and by more open contours that age somewhat faster. The floral side is always blended with the fruit, with a note leaning towards forest floor, giving great pleasure on the nose and palate, with delicacy throughout.

The vintage

Harvest from 15 to 25 September 2003. Château-bottled in May 2005.

Blend of the 2003 vintage

Figures from the 2003 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 17 hl/haYield
• 45 yrsVine age
• 65,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Alcoholic fermentation and maceration take place in wooden vats, so that the wine develops its full potential of colour and flavour. Each vat is handled according to its characteristics, with very slow punching down so that the grapes open gently. The different stages of vinification are carried out with respect for the raw material, to bring out the best of the harvest.

Ageing

15 to 20 months in new oak barrels (80 to 100%) on fine lees. Fining and filtration if necessary, depending on the vintage

Terroir

Château Canon La Gaffelière stands at the gates of the medieval village of Saint-Emilion, at the foot of the slope. The vineyard lies on the south-facing side of the hillside. Over an area of 19.5 hectares, clay-limestone and clay-sandy soils make up a complex yet exceptional terroir. At the surface, sand becomes more and more dominant the further one moves from the foot of the slope. Because of the nature of the soils, the grape variety balance is nearly even, which is quite atypical. It is split between 55% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.