2005 Canon

Just now starting to come out of its shell, the 2005 Château Canon is a blockbuster of a Canon that has so much to love. Ripe blackcurrants, darker cherries, graphite, and scorched earth notes all define the aromatics (it needs air to show at its best), and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness backed by a stacked mid-palate, building, ripe, polished tannins, and incredible length on the finish. It’s clearly in the early stages of its prime drinking window yet is going to evolve gracefully over the coming two decades in cold cellars. It doesn’t have the sheer precision of modern-day Canon releases, but it brings more opulence and oomph. It's a brilliant bottle of wine.

Gorgeous limestone typicity, salinity, gentle raspberry and redcurrant, blond tobacco. You see the difference in precision between this vintage and more recent years, but it's hard to complain about the gentle pleasures of autumnal fruits along with orange peel, black truffle, fennel and oyster shell. Tasted twice in the last few months, and again last summer, just a totally gorgeous wine that is blossoming. Savour its brilliance. Harvest September 20 to 28, ph 3.55. 60% new oak. 35hl/hyield.

The 2005 Canon is an absolute gem and, like many 2005s, is beginning to shed its tannins and become more approachable and terroir-driven. Red berry fruit, undergrowth, hints of singed leather and warm gravel manifest on the nose, plus just a touch of hot bricks in the background, and perhaps terra-cotta. The palate is not muscular but shows fine backbone. The tannins, having softened in the last couple of years, frame a mélange of red and black fruit intermixed with bay leaf and clove. Kudos to winemaker John Kolasa, who oversaw this vintage and was instrumental in the estate’s rejuvenation.