2012 Chateau Canon St. Emilion Grand Cru Classé 1

  • 94 WA Saint Emilion
  • Beautifully Aged, just Entering its Prime Drinking Window
  • Top Tier Grand Cru Classé 1 
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About the Wine

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. The 2012 has just entered its drinking window and is not to be missed!

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. 

Tasting Notes: 70% Merlot 30% Cabernet Franc. The nose is laden with dark fruits, plums, cassis, and cherries. On the palate, the tannins have begun to relax and it moves through the palate with a silky precision. This wine still has quite a bit of life to give.

Reviews

Tasted from several bottles in recent months, the 2012 Canon is a stupendous wine for the vintage and if anything, it appears to be improving with each encounter. It clearly serves up more than enough volume and fruit intensity on the nose compared to the impressive 2011 Canon: it is very pure with black cherries, wild strawberry, asphalt, and blood orange. This is very well defined and beautifully focused. The palate is medium-bodied, silky smooth, and with that thrilling sense of frisson. There is so much vivacity wound up inside this Saint Emilion that it would not surprise me if it turns out to be one of the very best in 2012. Tasted January 2017. ~94 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2012 Canon is a rich, smoky, meaty 2012 that checks in as blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Ripe black cherries, melted licorice, chocolate, and a touch of scorched earth all emerge from this classic, structured effort that has terrific concentration, a pure, backward style, ripe tannin, and a great finish. It’s nowhere near ready for primetime (this wine didn’t start to open up until the second day after opening) and needs a solid 5-7 years of cellaring but will see its 30th birthday in fine form. ~93+ Jeb Dunnuck

A red with blueberry, blackberry, and walnut character. Chocolate too. Medium to full body, fine tannins, and a fresh finish. This is tight and dense. Extremely polished tannins and a long finish. Another 2001. Better in 2018. ~93 James Suckling 

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