Château La Gaffelière
Situated on the road that runs south out of the town of St Emilion there is a most remarkable château, one which feels inherently part of the vinous landscape and yet one which also feels, to this day, slightly incongruous. It is perhaps the town’s only good example of gothic architecture, and it is this that sets the château apart from its environment. The building seems improbably narrow and is of some height, at least three stories, four if we include the roof space which is large, the gables lofty and pointed. Rows of tall windows on one end are capped with decorative mouldings of gothic pointed archways, while those along the road are dressed with archivolts and there is even a miniature rose window. Perhaps the most striking feature, however, is best viewed from a distance, as here the many carved finials and crockets that decorate the roof can be appreciated. They give the building a strikingly different silhouette to anything else you will encounter in this town.
This is, of course, Château La Gaffelière (pictured below), a domaine which as the very appearance of the château itself suggests is steeped in history. Its construction dates to the at least the 15th century, although the story of habitation and viticulture at this spot actually begins one and a half millennia before that.
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