Chateau Canon-la-Gaffelière

The majority of the leading St Emilion estates are located on the limestone plateau around the town, or on the slopes, known collectively as the Côtes, or alternatively on the Graves (not to be confused with the vineyards around Pessac and Léognan, alongside the Garonne), which leads on to the vineyards of Pomerol. The vineyards of Chateau Canon-la-Gaffelière lie on the Pieds de Côtes, on the celebrated limestone escarpment, although with a more sandy character towards the foot of the slope. Further south the plain stretches down to the Dordogne, here the soils are increasingly sandy, and there are few chateaux of note here, save for maybe Chateau Monbousquet.

As mentioned above, the vineyards of Canon-la-Gaffelière lie on the slopes of St Emilion's limestone plateau, with limestone, clay and sandy soils. It is a single block of vines, 19.5 hectares in size; von Neipperg would have included disparate plots in the blend of Canon-la-Gaffelière, but was informed by local authorities that his chateau faced demotion from its ranking as Grand Cru Classé if he did so. And so the disparate plot continued to fly solo, von Neipperg and Derenoncourt moulding the wines it produced into what we now know as La Mondotte. Keeping our focus on Canon-la-Gaffelière, however, it is in the vineyard the serious work starts. It is planted with a slight predominance of Merlot (55%), with 40% Cabernet Franc, this variety said to be a strong determining factor in the character of the final wine, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, all planted at a density of 5500 vines/ha, and with an average age of 45 years. Stephan von Neipperg sees himself very much as a grower of grapes first, winemaker second, and to this effect many practices in the vineyard approach biodynamic methods, certainly organic, as von Neipperg breathes life back into his soil. Only low-nitrogen fertiliser is used, all the vineyard processes are manual, and there is some use of homeopathic biodynamic preparations. Yields are severely restricted.