Château La Gaffelière, previously Château Gaffelière-Naudes, is a

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

from the

Saint-Émilion Saint-Émilion (; Gascon dialect, Gascon: ''Sent Milion'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southwestern France. In the heart of the country of Libournais (the area around Libourne), in a regio ...

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

, ranked among the Premiers grands crus classés B in the

Classification of Saint-Émilion wine In 1955, the Saint-Émilion AOC, wines of Saint-Émilion in the wine-growing region of Bordeaux wine, Bordeaux were classified. Unlike the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 covering wines from the Médoc and Graves (wine region), Grave ...

. The

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

is located west of

Château Pavie Château Pavie is a winery in Saint-Émilion in the Bordeaux region of France. It lies on the plateau to the southeast of St. Emilion village. In 2012 it was classified in the first rank of the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine, as a Premie ...

, just south of the town of Saint-Émilion, within the commune of the same name. The château also produces a

second wine Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...

named Clos La Gaffelière.

History

Founded on the ruins of a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

villa named "Le Palat", and later a 17th-century

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East ...

, the estate was

sharecropping Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

land that came to the ownership of the Comte de Malet-Roquefort. The word "gaffet" translates to

leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

. Near the end of the 19th century, the original extensive estate was divided into what became

Château Canon-la-Gaffelière Château Canon-la-Gaffelière is a Bordeaux wine from the Appellation d'origine contrôlée, appellation Saint-Émilion AOC, Saint-Émilion, ranked ''Premier Grand Cru Classé B'' in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. The winery is loca ...

, and the area then called Puygenestous-Naudes, renamed Château Gaffelière-Naudes. The name was simplified after 1963. After three centuries, it still belongs to the Malet-Roquefort family.

Production

From 25 hectares the vineyard area extends 22 hectares, with a grape variety of 66%

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

, and the remainder split between

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

and

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

. Chateau La Gaffelière annually produces on average 10,000 cases of the ''Grand vin''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaffeliere, Chateau La Bordeaux wine producers Saint-Émilion wine