Description

Despite the vintage being difficult the team at La Gaffaliere have made a really charming wine. It has the typical perfume you’d expect with a mineral core and nice balance of oak and red fruits. I’d back this wine to improve over 7-15 years but it doesn’t need it. Roast lamb would be a great match for this wine.

This old estate is a solid and reliable producer that is often well priced. 18 hectare of Clay, limestone, chalk and sandy soils are devoted to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The wine making is quite modern and the wines tend to be perfumed, mid weight and elegant. Capable of improving in the short to mid term.

Saint-Emilion

With approximately 5400 hectare planted it is a vast appellation with a few distinct personalities. Like the famous neighbour Pomerol the wines are Merlot dominant and offer the silk, perfume and charm that Merlot can give. The best of the wines will live as long as, if not longer than most Left Bank wines and often cost two or three times more.

Merlot

It gets a tough time most of the places it is grown. But in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion Merlot not only dominates but makes some of the best wines in the world. Perfume, silky and plush. Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon season the wines with structure and acid but in some places, like Petrus they are almost not needed.

2011

One of the hardest and most disappointing vintages in recent Bordeaux history. Experiencing both excessive heat and rain led to wines that were lighter, less concentrated and sometimes on the green side. Early ripening terroirs and Merlot tended to be more successful.