TN: 2015 Château Canon (France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru)

• 2015 Château Canon - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (10/10/2018)
  Just got these in and had to give one a spin. Pop and pour. Black core, purplish red at the rim.

Nose is there right away, no waiting or coaxing needed: dark fruits, flowers, moist potting soil, some oaky vanilla and tar.

Full bodied, creamy silky palate-coating lush fruit with good balancing acidity that keeps it fresh, label says 15% ABV but I’m not getting any alcoholic heat, can feel the tannins but no bitter or harsh notes to them. Very long finish.

After a couple of hours the nose is more intense with a bit of cherry added to the dark fruits, earth, flowers and oaky notes. Tannins are more evident but the ripe fruit and balance are still there.

Obviously no aged complexity yet. My only criticism is that it’s not showing much Bordeaux-ness but I wouldn’t expect that at this early stage. Not an AFWE wine and may never be, but it’s balanced, not overly sweet or too ripe. This is a baby monster and while it’s pumping out plenty to love right now, I’ll be waiting for that Bordeaux complexity to show up in another 15-20 years. Outstanding.

I have to say that, as I sadly would have expected, this doesn’t sound at all like the Canon of yesteryear.

Jayson,

I don’t recall drinking any Canon at such early stage. I know that you and I have had a bunch of Canon from the yesteryear in a vertical, and you in all likelihood had Canon at different stages, what makes you say that David’s 2015 is not in the same mold?

15 percent!?

“dark fruits . . . some oaky vanilla and tar . . . .

Full bodied, creamy . . . lush fruit with . . . 15% ABV . . . .

it’s not showing much Bordeaux-ness.”

Would be happy to be wrong.

Yeah, this isn’t at all like young Bordeaux from 20 years ago. I’ve been impressed by how much complexity and real Bordeaux character can emerge from “modern” wines given enough time. Remains to be seen whether this one is a bridge too far. It wasn’t flabby or too low in acid IMO. Ever the optimist, I’ll hold onto mine.

I had this at the UGC tasting in February, and loved it. One of the three best wines I had at the tasting.

Tasted this at the Chateau in July and thought it was truly fantastic.

Interestingly, I found the 2014 Canon at the local store for $65 and gave it a whirl. Slow-O for 12 hours. Another crazy good wine. I was blown away. Will be buying a ton more now. Best QPR I’ve had in a long time.

Anyone had the 09 Canon? I wonder how that’s compares to the 15?

Haven’t had it Pat.

Drinking the last 1/3 of the bottle tonight. My wife says “I could drink this every night.” Same thing she said about the 1995 Beaucastel we had a few nights ago.

LOL not at $65 you aren’t!

It may not be like 20 years ago, but in 1972 Ch. Canon was my epiphany wine. It was the 1964 that I picked up because it seemed to be priced right, more than I wanted to spend but not crazy expensive… I think it was around $6.50 to $7.50 a bottle.

I have some '14s in 375s that are great, but the notes on the '15 sound just like how I remember the '64 when it was young.

This surprises me, and so maybe I will be proven wrong on the ‘15: the ‘64 is the best Canon I’ve ever had. But I’m fairly sure it is about 12.5-13% alcohol, and a good bottle is very transparent, elegant, and detailed in addition to having strong fruit still. I wonder if a bottle at 15% can achieve that at age 30-50+. I’m a hopeful skeptic.

I understand, Jayson. But you never had it when it was quite young. It was big sweet fruit, and the first wine I had that made me say, “Hey, this tastes like incredible grapes.”

I am sure it was labeled at 12.5%, as that is what they ran through the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

I have not tasted it in maturity, so I am sure it is completely different from its infancy. But still, it was an amazing young right bank wine.

It is not. At least to me, it is better. And I am a big fan of Canon, especially the older vintages.

The 2015 has incredible levels of richness, freshness and purity, with a finish that holds for about 60 seconds! I thought it was mind blowing in 2016 from the first taste!

We have very different tastes in and expectations from Bordeaux but I haven’t tried this so I’ll reserve judgment.

Very cool perspective. Time will tell on this one. I just hope I’m still around in 20 years to find out.

It would be interesting to run an analysis. We recently analyzed some big, ripe Burgundies from yesteryear: 1937 and 1947 Clos des Lambrays. I would have guessed the abv to be around 14% given their richness, texture and amplitude. Both were below 12%… Certainly food for thought… And perhaps explains why one feels so good after drinking a bottle or more.

William, how confident can you be that it wasn’t significantly higher 70 and 80 years ago, when the wines went into the bottle?

William, alcohol levels dissipate with time at a rate of give or take .5% every 20 years or so. Testing wine with decades of age today is not relative unless you take that into consideration. You might have done that of course. But that’s a factor worth considering.