2021 - Grand Vin Château Canon Chaigneau
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2021 - Grand Vin Château Canon Chaigneau
Our sensational 2021s are in bottle and available for your cellar!
A fascinating, cooler vintage. After '18, '19 & '20, we thought that 21 would be a similar story, that global warming had meant that fully ripe ‘millesimes d’exception’ were in fact the new normal. Which was of course, totally wrong. Extremely difficult growing conditions then, this for our first full year in charge. First the spring frost, whereby we lost around 20%, which weakened the vines. Then, the wettest June in a long time meant we had a single day to treat the vines and one tractor to get it done.. and thus in came the mildew. So tragic to witness 50% of our grapes just wither away. It was worse elsewhere, some people not even managing a harvest. July & August weren’t particularly hot, September quite warm, and we achieved good maturity on remaining fruit. We picked late. The wines are so interesting. We kept things simple, I heard a lot of people had very long macerations and extractions, but I was delighted to be able to make something softer, finer, lower in alcohol & less concentrated.
We didn’t renew the wood this year, opting to keep on with the one year old barrels, but 100% of the Canon Chaigneau will be aged in those, and we’ll again make our Cuve 8a (though it may end up as 15b because of the quantity!). This again, is not a second wine, as we sell our lesser lots elsewhere, and we have a pretty homogenous terroir. It’s a version vinified and aged in cement, something that the non Bordeaux market appreciates, and in this vintage it’s a particularly interesting. The wines have quite a Burgundian feel to them, soft, approachable, but with a nice bead of acidity and a good concentration of fruit.. and a real ferrous complexity coming through from our terroir, on the finish. We used around 5% press in both cuvées, which was delicious this year, we pressed it extremely gently. If anything, our terroir comes through more than in 19 & 20, where the concentration and maturity are what strikes first.
Drink now and for 15 years.
- 'Complex and of great intensity, revealing nuances of iris and herbs de Provence, complemented by notes of cherries and elderberry. The wine is svelte, fine, precise and well structured. Marvellously enriched by it’s barrel aging in terms of olfactory and flavour profile..’
Yves Beck, 2025-2038 90/100
- 'Outstanding potential.. a blend of 93% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Pulled from just 40% of the production and resting in 72% new barrels, it has a pretty bouquet of mulberries, spring flowers, and lavender. Medium-bodied and fruit-forward on the palate, it's balanced, has ripe tannins, and a great finish.'
Jeb Dunnuck, 89/100
Gold Medal at the Concours Mondial Feminalise 2023.
"This is a wine you’ll tell people about for years to come. And you can enjoy for years to come too. A wonderful expression of the quality of the fabulous 2021 vintage, with opulence balanced by freshness, and rich, fine, serious tannins."
A Unique Terroir
The Néac plateau. One of the finest wines of the appellation, and one of the best value wines in France - medium bodied, not over extracted, complex, suave & extremely drinkable, typically with notes of truffle, black fruits, spice and cacao.
A Legendary Winemaker
Thierry Garnaud was maître de chai at Cheval Blanc from 1988 – 2018, responsible for such 100 Point Legends as the 1990, '98, 2000, '03, '05, '06, '08, '10, '15 & 2016.
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