Chateau La Gaffeliere (St. Emilion)

“Opens with compelling wild blueberries, freshly crushed plums and kirsch scents plus hints of garrigue, underbrush, rose hip tea and pencil lead. The palate is wonderfully elegant with a soft, velvety texture and seamless freshness carrying the multilayered fruit to a long finish.”

The summer was hot in 2016, without being sweltering, and above all very dry: between July and August, the weather station at Gaffelière registered only 5 mm of rain… The clay soil at Gaffelière favours deep rooting by our vines and the work by our teams to maintain balance allowed the harvest to proceed despite these climatic challenges. As so often, Bordeaux worked its magic..

During the September that preceded the harvest, two storms unblocked the ripening process, and this was followed by a real Indian summer, with a succession of cool nights and hot days, favouring the slow refining of the tannins. The vineyard was in a good state of health and we could wait for the optimum picking date for each parcel: the 9 days of Merlot harvest were spread out over 3 weeks at Gaffelière.