- CRITICAL REVIEWS
- WINEMAKER NOTES
JD
97
Jeb Dunnuck
Showing spectacularly, the 2017 Chateau Canon checks in as a final blend of 77% Merlot and 23% Cabernet Franc that’s from one of the most exceptional terroirs in the appellation. Hitting 14% alcohol (the pH is 3.66), it reveals a ruby/purple hue as well as gorgeously sweet raspberries and cassis-like fruit interwoven with notes of spring flowers, rose petal, white chocolate, and spice. While it doesn’t have the massive opulence of the 2015 and 2016, it’s more classically styled as well flawlessly balanced, with a terrific sense of minerality, ultra-fine tannins, and a brilliant finish. Give bottles 5-7 years in the cellar, and it will evolve gracefully for 30-40 years. Hats off to Nicolas Audebert as well as the team of Thomas Duclos for one of the wines of the vintage!
Reviewed by Jeb Dunnuck, Issue date: Febuary 2020. Drinking window: 2025 - 2060.
RP
96
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
(Rating 96+) Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Canon bursts from the glass with expressive notions of baked black cherries, kirsch, plum preserves and black raspberries plus hints of red roses, Ceylon tea, black olives and fertile loam. Medium-bodied, the palate is wonderfully elegant and refined, with a soft, finely grained texture and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. The blend is 77% Merlot and 23% Cabernet Franc and it was aged for 18 months in French oak, 50% new.
Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Issue date: March 2020. Drinking window: 2021 - 2045.
2017 Chateau Canon Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France
LE 1ER GRAND CRU CLASSÉ
Canon’s wines reflect the huge rigour of the saint-emilion plateau. Freshness hones the huge voluptuousness. A pure, clean nectar that draws all of the minerality’s tension. A fine wine. The protruding power of the vine rooted in the rock.
PERSONNALITY
Château Canon offers a masterful, full, direct personality. The opulence of the fruit creates tension with the mineral freshness. A game of light and shadows between the quarries and the plateau. Reflecting the vineyard’s density of sunlight.
Indomitable fullness. A favourite. Ageing potential.
THE TENSION & MINERALITY OF THE PLATEAU
This refined, slender and vertical vintage owes its balance to the sophisticated structure from the limestone soils.
2017 VINTAGE
Canon 2017 takes us on a sensory journey of crisp fruit and aromas of garrigue scrubland. It starts with an explosion of fruit, blackcurrants, blueberries and cherries, that then gives way to a spring-like freshness. The nose reveals notes of broom and rosemary, like a walk through a field of flowers and a forest of eucalyptus. On the palate, we find a whole raft of delicate, smooth flavours. The rich, detailed texture stretches out like Ariadne’s thread, leading to a mineral, chalky finish, typical of the wines from the limestone plateau.
WEATHER CONDITIONS
Winter: mild and dry
Spring: sunny and warm
Summer: hot
Autumn: lovely sunny days alternating
with autumn rains
HARVEST TIME
Merlot: September 4th to 21st
Cabernet Franc: September 22nd to 27th
YIELD
42hl / ha
AGEING
18 months with 56% new barrels
for Château Canon & 30% for Croix Canon
Winter: mild and dry
Spring: sunny and warm
Summer: hot
Autumn: lovely sunny days alternating
with autumn rains
HARVEST TIME
Merlot: September 4th to 21st
Cabernet Franc: September 22nd to 27th
YIELD
42hl / ha
AGEING
18 months with 56% new barrels
for Château Canon & 30% for Croix Canon
ALCOHOL LEVEL
14%
pH
3,66
CHÂTEAU CANON BLENDING
77% Merlot
23% Cabernet Franc
CROIX CANON BLENDING
80% Merlot
20% Cabernet Franc
14%
pH
3,66
CHÂTEAU CANON BLENDING
77% Merlot
23% Cabernet Franc
CROIX CANON BLENDING
80% Merlot
20% Cabernet Franc
CHÂTEAU CANON’S VINEYARD
34 hectares
34 hectares
SURFACE AREA
24 hectares dedicated to Château Canon,
1er Grand Cru Classé
10 hectares dedicated to Croix Canon,
2nd wine of Château Canon
SOIL
Clay-limestone plateau
EXPOSURE OF THE VINEYARD
South/Southwest
DENSITY OF PLANTATION
Between 6,500 and 7,200 plants/ha
AVERAGE AGE OF THE VINES
30 years
24 hectares dedicated to Château Canon,
1er Grand Cru Classé
10 hectares dedicated to Croix Canon,
2nd wine of Château Canon
SOIL
Clay-limestone plateau
EXPOSURE OF THE VINEYARD
South/Southwest
DENSITY OF PLANTATION
Between 6,500 and 7,200 plants/ha
AVERAGE AGE OF THE VINES
30 years
GRAPE VARIETIES PLANTED
70% Merlot
30% Cabernet Franc
HARVEST
By hand and transported in small crates
SORTING
Manual selection
VINIFICATION
Separate vinification, vatting using gravity, into conical shaped stainless steel vats with a double walled system for temperature control. Malolactic: 1/3 in new barrels and 2/3 in stainless steel vats.
70% Merlot
30% Cabernet Franc
HARVEST
By hand and transported in small crates
SORTING
Manual selection
VINIFICATION
Separate vinification, vatting using gravity, into conical shaped stainless steel vats with a double walled system for temperature control. Malolactic: 1/3 in new barrels and 2/3 in stainless steel vats.
AGEING
In French oak barrel, with a medium or medium-long toasting. Racking via the bunghole. Fining depending on the vintage
In French oak barrel, with a medium or medium-long toasting. Racking via the bunghole. Fining depending on the vintage