2016 Chateau Canon Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé 1

As one of just 18 Premier Grand Crus in Saint Emilion, Clos Canon has a big reputation to live up to. Year after year, it is more apparent that this estate has earned and deserves to maintain this highly-coveted status. Even in years that one would expect a lower performance, Canon still delivers delicious age-worthy wines. Chateau Canon has been on a roll over the last few years. 2015 was James Suckling's wine of the year. 2016 brought "to the table a whole other level of sophistication," according to Wine Advocate. Both vintages have already been described as historic and this is a wine to cherish for the long haul. Very limited availability.

Château Canon’s walled vineyard lies at the entrance to Saint-Emilion. It even extends into the village, with the Bourg de Château Canon plot which adjoins the Couvent des Cordeliers in Rue de la Porte Brunet. Surrounded by dwellings, this unique 1,500 square meters parcel is plowed by horse and is hand-harvested in traditional style. Vines have been grown on the same plots at Chateau Canon for the last 500 years. On the upper reaches of the plateau the depth of this ochre-colored, sometimes slightly bluish soil varies from 30 cm to 1 meter.

70% Merlot 30% Cabernet Franc. The nose is laden with dark fruits, plums, cassis and cherries. On the palate, this is dense and brooding with plenty of structure.

Composed of 74% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc and aged for 18 months in 70% new French barriques, the 2016 Canon is medium to deep garnet-purple in color, and—WOW—it opens with the most stunning perfume of violets, red roses and kirsch, giving way to a core of black cherry preserves, chocolate box, licorice, warm plums and Chinese five spice plus an earthy waft of underbrush. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is completely filled with expressive, perfumed black berry layers accented by lively red fruits and exotic spices, supported by impressively fine-grained tannins and fantastic tension, finishing very long with jaw-dropping energy. Tasted three times, I had one opportunity to taste the 2015 and 2016 Canon side by side. While I love the bold, rich, seductive nature of the 2015, this 2016 kicks it up a notch in terms of polish, precision, depth and persistence. Most notably, the superbly ripe, exquisitely fine-grained tannins on this 2016 bring to the table a whole other level of sophistication. Bravo! ~98+ Wine Advocate

Complex aromas of blackberries, iodine, oyster shell and wet earth. Ever so perfumed. Full-bodied, yet reserved and tight with very silky tannins that are energized and minerally. Takes off at the end. The freshness lifts it. Try after 2024.~ 97 James Suckling

A powerful, concentrated and superripe wine, this is major. The wine's juicy black-plum fruit balances its dark tannins and density. You can sense the impressive future for this structured wine.~97 Wine Enthusiast

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