The 2020 La Gaffeliere is composed of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it soars out of the glass with expressive notes of redcurrant jelly, plum preserves, and kirsch, plus nuances of dark chocolate, violets, pencil lead, and fragrant soil with a waft of crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is so tightly wound, featuring very fine layers of red and black fruit intertwined with floral and mineral nuances, supported by highly pixilated, super-ripe tannins and amazing tension, finishing very long and with the energy of an atomic bomb. This is stunning!

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.

In contention as one of the top vintages produced here, the wine is strong on its floral characteristics. Once past the opening bouquet of white flowers and dried roses you find plums, black cherries, black raspberries, mint and cigar wrapper nuances. The palate provides a lush, opulent, as well as vibrant, energetic backdrop for its wealth of deep red fruits and oceanic influences. The finish has a touch of salty chalk that adds complexity to its wealth of silky, ripe, red fruits. Drink from 2025-2050. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2020&wine=Chateau%20Canon-la-Gaffeliere

Perfumed, delicate, generous and evocative all in equal measure. The fruit quality is excellent, so vibrant and lifted, shining out of the glass. Really bright with energy and dynamism. Lovely lifted expression full of rose petals, herbal-tinged raspberries, blackcurrants and plums. Chalky, creamy and salty, with a cooling freshness. Lots to like with classic elements as well as touches of the hot vintage. It’s not showing it’s best right now but this is delicious.

An excellent vintage, showcasing mulberry and rich ripe raspberry. The fruit in this vintage was just a touch riper than in the 2019, and you feel it in the structure, width and depth through the palate. Well-carved out tannic architecture, with waves of graphite, gunsmoke, cumin and sage. 50% new oak for ageing, Stéphane Derenoncourt consultant.

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. - William Kelley

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. — J.M.

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.

(93+ points) 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. -- Neal Martin