Gaffelière - Saint-Emilion 2020

Vinous

93,5-93,5

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 2020 La Gaffelière has a classically styled, tertiary, tobacco-scented bouquet that unfolds in a pleasing fashion. The palate is medium-bodied with lighter tannins than its peers, but it's still nicely balanced and pure. A caressing white pepper- and clove-tinged finish lingers in the mouth. It's very fine, but as I previously noted, this is quite a backward Saint-Émilion, which explains the plus sign and my lower mark than before. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Wine Advocate

95

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

A worthy follow up to the excellent 2019, the 2020 La Gaffelière bursts with aromas of plums, sweet berries, licorice, mint and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and concentrated, with lively acids and vibrant fruit flavors, it's built around powdery, fine-grained tannins. Cabernet Franc represents fully 40% of the blend. As I wrote last year, this estate, in many respects Saint-Émilion's sleeping giant, is awakening.

Wine Spectator

95

byJames Molesworththe3/31/2023

Here's a winner in this heat-influenced vintage, showing remarkable purity and focus, with a gorgeous beam of cassis, cherry paste and violet cruising through, inlaid with subtle chalky minerality and backed by a broad stroke of mouthwatering tobacco on the finish. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2028 through 2040. 7,500 cases made, 250 cases imported.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/30/2023

The 2020 Château La Gaffelière checks in as a 60/40 split of Merlot and Cabernet Franc that saw 50% new barrels. This medium to full-bodied, pure, elegant, seamless Saint-Emilion has lots of cassis and darker raspberry-like fruits, good mid-palate depth, ripe tannins, and solid complexity in its notes of graphite, sandalwood, and Asian spices. It doesn't bring the depth and richness of the top wines in the vintage, but it certainly shines for its complexity and balance.

Wines Critic

97

byRaffaele Vecchionethe3/10/2023

Expressive with remarkable sensory beauty showing notes of black prunes, blackberries, sour cherries, wild strawberries, black pepper and guaranà . A lot of spices dominate the secondary scene giving complexity to the matrix. Medium to full bodied, linear and tasty in the gustatory profile showing elegance and smoothness, immediately exciting. A wine which will have a lot to say for itself in the future.Better from 2026.

Vinous

98

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 La Gaffelière is superb. Rich, dense and explosive. Black cherry, gravel, licorice, grilled herbs and menthol race out of the glass. Deep, pliant and explosive, the 2020 is magnificent. At this stage, the 2020 is an infant, but that won't be a problem in a few years. This vivid, statuesque Saint-Émilion is nothing short of thrilling.

Vinous

96

byNeal Martinthe2/15/2023

The 2020 La Gaffelière was a knockout out of barrel and so expectations were high broaching the wine in bottle. It delivers a sumptuous yet beautifully-defined bouquet with pure black cherry and red plum aromas, an underlying mineralité that keeps it on its toes. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, quite saline, perhaps still a little closed post-bottling but with plenty of tension running from start to finish. It's a Saint-Émilion that says bugger off and come back (a lot) later.

Jamessuckling.com

97

byJames Sucklingthe1/16/2023

Deep and intense notes of plums and blackberries with dark chocolate, toasted spices, walnut, crushed graphite and wet stones. Full-bodied with layers of ripe, velvety tannins that flow in a firm stream throughout the palate. Very structured. Delicious chocolate-wrapped black and blue fruit with spiced character and a really long finish. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc. Drink from 2028.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

95

byJane Ansonthe1/16/2023

Limestone dominance from the first moment, with saffron and oyster shell along with juicy and well-controlled blueberry and raspberry fruit, and white pepper spice. Cabernet Franc dominant in the aromatics of savoury tomato leaf, peony and heather, this is sleek, silky and excelllent quality. First vintage without the Grand Cru Classé on the label, as it withdrew from the ranking, and a clear loss to the classification. 42hl/ha yield.

Wine Spectator

95

byJames Molesworththe11/30/2022

Here's a winner in this heat-influenced vintage, showing remarkable purity and focus, with a gorgeous beam of cassis, cherry paste and violet cruising through, inlaid with subtle chalky minerality and backed by a broad stroke of mouthwatering tobacco on the finish. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2028 through 2040.

Vinous

96-98

byAntonio Gallonithe6/25/2021

The 2020 La Gaffelière is simply magnificent. Soaring, regal aromatics are immediately alluring. Deep and beautifully layered in the glass, the 2020 is vibrant and packed to the core. In 2020, the tannins are especially fine and silky for a Saint-Émilion that often shows a bit more tension in its youth. Bright red cherry, blood orange, mocha, spice, dried herbs and leather envelop the palate effortlessly. I imagine the 2020 will provide readers with many decades of exceptional drinking. It is another superb effort from a property that continues to impress.

Vinous

96-98

byNeal Martinthe5/27/2021

The 2020 La Gaffelière has an intriguing, complex nose, a mélange of red and black fruit, cigar box, undergrowth and mint, quite mercurial in the glass as it opens with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins, a beautiful seam of acidity and perhaps the most satin-like texture I have encountered on a young La Gaffelière. It sashays to a harmonious and precise finish and lingers with wonderful mineralité. This is a magnificent prospect.

Decanter.com

95

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

An run of successful vintages at La Gaffeliere, and this again proves why it is an estate to watch, striking an expert balance between power and finesse. Offers a ton of cassis, blackberry, black cherry and damson fruits, licorice root and crushed stone, just gorgeously juicy and stretches out across the palate. Austere tannins at this point, plenty of limestone character, a little tight on the finish but with a velvet texture and promises to age with grace. A yield of 42hl/ha.

Wine Advocate

96-98

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/20/2021

Deep purple-black colored, the 2020 La Gaffeliere gallops out of the glass with exuberant scents of crushed black plums, boysenberries and fresh blackberries, plus hints of eucalyptus, dark chocolate, crushed rocks and iron ore, with a waft of lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with compelling energy, delivering layers of black and red berries with fantastic tension and finely grained tannins, finishing very long and wonderfully minerally.

Bernard Burtschy

95-97

byBernard Burtschythe5/10/2021

Falstaff

94-96

byPeter Moserthe5/10/2021

Wildpflaume im Duft, Schokolade, intensiv kräuterig, Kräuterbitter, etwas Wachs. Schwarzer Pfeffer. Auch floral: Iris. Ein stattlicher Bau am Gaumen. Körnig, fleischig, ausgesprochen gut extrahiert, reiche Materie, eine Prise Grüntöne erhöht die Span- nung, ohne die Harmonie zu stören, gut integrierter Alkohol, mazerazionsfruchtiger, tabakiger Nachall. Ein ziemlicher Klotz, aber mit einer Aromenbegleitung guter Frische - und mit sehr guter Perspektive.

My Bettane + Desseauve

96-97

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021

Jamessuckling.com

96-97

byJames Sucklingthe4/23/2021

Blackberry and black-olive aromas and flavors. Full-bodied with layers of fine tannins that fill the mouth. Expansive finish. The tannins are very fine, but abundant. Really impressive.