| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The 2015 Canon was a benchmark wine that seemed to revitalize this historic estate. I was crossing my fingers that it would not disappoint in bottle and I am glad to say that it delivers the goods. It has a very intense bouquet (just as it showed out of barrel) with laser-like precision offering wild strawberry, raspberry preserve, wet limestone and hints of truffle. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, clean and fresh with pure black and red fruit whose every atom appears infused with minerals. The mouth is tingling long after the wine has exited and your brain is thinking...when is the next sip coming? It is frankly heads and shoulders above almost every Saint Émilion this vintage, to reaffirm, a benchmark for this historic estate that will give pleasure to many over the coming years. Astonishing. Anticipated maturity: 2021 - 2050.
Seductive. The nose draws you in deep: It’s like staring into a well of pristine dark cherries, dark plums, blackberries and mulberries. All the oak is perfectly subsumed. The palate’s flawless with immense depth and power and it’s so balanced as to appear to float. Immaculate fresh dark-berry and plum flavors. Silky and deep, ribbon-like finish. Perfect. Best from 2022.
Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2015 Canon slowly expands on the nose to reveal notes of plum preserves, black cherry compote, and blackberry pie, plus hints of dark chocolate, vanilla, and licorice. Big, concentrated, and full-bodied, the palate has very firm, chewy tannins and soft acidity supporting the generous fruit, finishing long and earthy.
Tasted blind. Interesting broad, leafy notes on the nose. Lots of energy and richness. Real depth and excitement. Long and such a pace in the wine. Smooth and sweet and charming. Tannins well hidden. They picked relatively early here.
Drink 2025-2042
Tasted as part of a Canon vertical. Deep, rich ruby colour in the glass. The nose is dense and brooding, full of smoky cassis and dark cherry fruit but highly refined with tones of violet, blossom and sweet, scented spices. The palate is pure cashmere with supremely polished tannins. The seamless texture allows the powerful core of both black and red fruits to shine through. Chocolatey and seductive yet vibrant and full of energy. A wine of power but perfect harmony. Sweet spices come through but are subtle and beautifully integrated already. Very long on the finish - a real contender for the best Canon ever.
One of the wines of the vintage is the 2015 Château Canon which is 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc that spent 18 months in 70% new French oak. It offers a perfect example of the old saying “iron fist in a velvet glove” and boasts gorgeous notes of black cherries, framboise, spring flowers and exotic spices. All these lead to a full-bodied, ultra-pure, seamless 2015 that marries incredible richness and depth with a sense of purity, elegance, and weightlessness that needs to be tasted to believed. This multi-dimensional, seamless 2015 needs forgotten for 4-5 years and will keep for three decades or more. Bravo! 2022 - 2052
Ripe fruit on the nose the start of the palate is sweet with depth of fruit in the middle. The velvety richness is balanced by bilberry and bramble freshness but it fills out at back opulent and rich yet the finish has a mineral edge. 2022-35
With some herb and spice notes overlaying a lush but not forced core this is a calm wine with some latent power and deep, dark depth. The oak is under control and the fruit is incredibly focussed, resulting in a long-lived style which shuns the flamboyance of many and remains true to its terroir.
The 2015 Canon is going to be a benchmark for this historic estate. A blend of 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc, it was cropped at 42 hl/ha between 14-25 September and 30 September until 2 October respectively. The alcohol level is an average 14.5% with a pH 3.78, matured for 18 months in 70% new barrels (except for one barrel of Cabernet Franc that they will bottle separately - just to see). Lucid in color, it has an intense bouquet that exudes extraordinary purity with scents of raspberry, wild strawberry, limestone and violets. It makes a huge impression. The palate is medium-bodied and multilayered with vivacious red and black fruit infused with minerals. The acidity lends the tension here from start to finish, but what this Canon possesses unlike the dozens of other vintages that I have tasted, is an overarching structure that will see it age in similar fashion to past classics such as the 1929, 1947 and 1964. It lingers very long in the mouth, the oak just surfacing a little on the aftertaste, although that will be subsumed with time. This estate has been in the ascendant in recent vintages under winemaker John Kolasa and now Nicolas Audebert, together with a benevolent growing season, has elevated Canon to a level that few could have predicted. Drink: 2025 - 2060
This is the greatest red ever produced here, even better than the great wines of the 1950s and 1960s. Full body yet tight and reserved. Superbly refined tannins. Yet rich and flamboyant. Fruity yet salty and minerally. Electric finish. Stone and chalk undertones. A wonder of a young wine.
Composed of 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc and aged for 18 months in 70% new and 30% one-year-old barrels, the 2015 Canon is boldly fruited with blackberry preserves, black cherry compote, fruitcake, mocha and plum preserves with suggestions of Indian spices, licorice and black olives. Full-bodied and packed with ripe, rich dried berries and exotic spice layers, it has a firm, slightly chewy structure and just enough freshness (the pH is 3.78), finishing long and savory. Give it another 2-3 years of cellaring to soften its edges and allow its flavor spectrum to fully emerge, and drink it over the next 20 to 25+ years. 2020 - 2045
Very bright, deep crimson. Again, like the 2016, really savoury and appetising on the nose (not too sweet compared with Ch Canon La Gaffelière). Smooth and much sweeter on the palate. Fruit battling the considerable tannins. Masses buried in here. So juicy and alluring! Hint of pencil-shavings flavour (the Cabernet Franc?) but not the pencil-shavings texture which can be awkward. A triumph.
Drink 2025-2046
Sample 1, from a new Taransaud barrique: Very dark crimson. Very complete and juicy on the nose. Very rich and glorious! Luscious and spicy. Deep and rich. Quite savoury and structured. Very fine and tight. Dry finish. Not as much fun to taste in isolation. Doubtless a useful ingredient. Slightly drying end.
Sample 2, from a new St Martin barrique: Very dark crimson. Very sweet and floral on the nose. Ripe and round. Lots to enjoy here! Real lift and very sophisticated. So long!
Sample 3: And finally an official sample at the château: strong hint of iodine on the nose. Very luscious and supple at first and then with massive velvety tannins and almost dried-fruit sweetness and concentration. Bravo!
Drink 2023-2040
There has been huge investment here recently in the vineyard (which is planted 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc) and chai by owners Chanel. The Chateau itself has recently enjoyed a substantial make-over. This is a great property that made fabulous wines in the past but dipped in form during the 1990's. It is now right back up there as one of the very best of all the Saint Emilion Chateaux. New director Nicolas Audebert has come in from Krug via South America. The 2015 blend is 72% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc. Deep purple colour. Violets, blueberries and cherries on this incredibly lifted and aromatic notes. The palate is fresh with acidity but intense with incredibly vibrant blue and black fruits. The tannins are silky smooth and very refined, drawing out a graphite mineral edge which balances superbly with the sweet vanilla and lightly smoky notes from the new oak. This has a long and well-defined, elegant finish. A really superb wine again this year, which defines the balanced, lifted style of St Emilion that we love at Farr Vintners.
