Château La Gaffelière 2018

An exceptional Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé

The estate

Located to the south of the village of Saint-Émilion, Château La Gaffelière, Premier Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion, boasts ancient origins. The discovery of mosaics during excavations confirmed the presence of vines on the estate as early as the Gallo-Roman era. Owned by the Malet Roquefort family for more than three centuries and located in the "golden triangle" between the hills of Châteaux Pavie and Ausone, Château La Gaffelière embodies the excellence of fine red Saint-Émilion wines.

The vineyard

The vineyard of Château La Gaffelière covers 38 hectares, 22 of which are Premier Grand Cru Classé. The vineyard is planted in 3 different areas. Here we find the most famous limestone plateau, an outcropping of clayey ‘’Molasses from Fronsadais’’ and the deep carbonate-rich sands. The vineyard of Château La Gaffelière is managed in a sustainable manner, emphasising the most gentle practices and interventions.

The wine

In addition to being exceptional in terms of quality, 2018 is a special vintage for the estate as it coincides with the 60th harvest of Léo de Malet Roquefort. To mark this special occasion, the 2018 Château La Gaffelière is adorned with an identical reissue of the 1959 vintage label.

The vintage

2018 will be remembered as a year marked by strong climatic variations with numerous rainy spells in winter and spring. Château La Gaffelière wasn’t affected by the hail storms that hit Bordeaux at the end of May. The estate was nevertheless exposed to significant mildew pressure until the end of July. The very fine summer then continued with scorching temperatures. All the efforts and attention paid by the technical teams at Château La Gaffelière were therefore crucial in enabling the vines to give their very best. The harvest began calmly on September 10th with the Merlot grapes and ended on October 9th with the Cabernet Franc grapes, enjoying pleasant weather conditions during the process.

Vinification and ageing

Once the grapes have been harvested by hand, they are exposed to a cold room for 12 hours at a temperature of 7 degrees before being sorted optically. The juices are then vinified in a plot-by-plot manner with gravity-fed vatting, without the use of sulphur. A fine wine by the estate, Château La Gaffelière 2018 is aged for 14 months in oak barrels, 60% of which are new oak.

The blend

Merlot (58%)

Cabernet Franc (42%).