Château Canon 2017

Bettane et Desseauve

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider

The Wine Independent

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

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.

All the 2017 blends have been finished and the wines have been aging in barrel since February 2018. “2017 was a special year, in most people’s minds a tough year because of the frost, but in between that parenthesis of the frost and rain, it was a great year,” commented winemaker/technical director Nicolas Audebert. “There was no blockage in the vines (vine shutdown), compared to 2015 and 2016. We started harvest on September 4 and finished on September 22. We like volume with no feeling of volume, which is what you get in 2017.”

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!

James Suckling

Extremely perfumed with blackcurrants, flowers, gunmetal, gunpowder and blackberries. Full-bodied, tight and reserved. The tannins are so tightly knit and just run through the center. Needs at least three or four years to open. A blend of 77% merlot and 23% cabernet franc. Better after 2023.