Canon 2015

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

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