2015 Bordeaux – Canon la Gaffelière, Beauséjour Bécot, Clos l’Église

by Charles Lea

Two big gun Saint Emilions out this morning. 2015 CHÂTEAU CANON LA GAFFELIÈRE , the Comte von Neipperg’s organic vineyard, did perhaps not impress us as much as the other critics, but Neal Martin gave it 93-95, Tim Atkin 95 ‘I can’t remember tasting a young Canon-La-Gaffelière that I’ve enjoyed as much as this one’, and Jancis Robinson agrees too with a 17/20 ‘Racy, sinewy‘, so it looks like we are in the minority!

On the other hand we liked 2015 CHÂTEAU BEAUSÉJOUR BÉCOT very much for its usual glossy blackberry sleekness, and this is likely to be the cheapest of the 1er Grand Cru Classés that we recommend. 93-95 Neal Martin, (‘What a gorgeous Beausejour Bécot. To quote 1980s chanteuse Sade – this is a “smooth operator”.‘) 94 Decanter – ‘Deep and reserved on the nose but a fragrant palate. Powerful but refined tannic base. Beautiful smooth texture with the freshness from the limestone terroir. Persistent finish.’

The Garcins Pomerol 2015 CLOS L’ÉGLISE is also worth a close look. With 95-96 from Neal Martin, (‘A wonderful Pomerol, almost understated, but full of personality.‘) this is likely to look a bargain price for a top Pomerol once the likes of Conseillante and VCC are released, but there is not much of it so you can’t wait until then!

A quieter morning than yesterday, but you can keep up to date with everything from #Bdx15 on our Recent Releases page.