Château Canon-la-Gaffelière: Tasting & Drinking
As I have already alluded in my profile, the Neipperg style is quite distinctive, and I feel it is surely a reflection of the work in the cellars, and I suspect that the micro-oxygenation is at least partly responsible, not least because I see similar characteristics in some other wines also employing the technique. Whatever the reason, taste through a selection of wines from this estate, and then taste a selection of other wines from anywhere in Bordeaux, left bank or right bank, and the differences especially in terms of the textures of the wines are undeniable.
In the past the style here has also been heavily marked by extraction, and I have wrestled with this in prior tastings. Sometimes the wines have been just on the edge, brooding with tannin, and it has been hard to predict whether or not they would come good, the tannins eventually integrating, or whether the fruit would fade long before the tannins finally gave way. Having now had the benefit of tasting these wines both in their youth but also as they age, including some at ten years of age or older, I have found that over the last decade or so the wines tend towards integration rather than tannin domination. What really matters these days is that the tannins feel ripe. If you go back twenty years you can find some wines that show a somewhat starker tannic backbone, but those were different times for Stephan von Neipperg I think. Having said this, today the wines still remain very much in the modern camp. This is where you come for texture and substance in St Emilion; these are not wines for those who prefer a more reserved, linear, ‘traditional’ style.
Taking all this into account, today this is a very reliable address, not just when taken in the context of St Emilion, but within the region of Bordeaux as a whole. The elevation of the domaine to premier grand cru classé in 2012 was well deserved.
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