Château Canon, 2016 Update
I have long been a fan of Château Canon, but it was only last year that I sat down for the first time to listen to now-retired managing director John Kolasa describe how, working on behalf of the proprietors the Wertheimer brothers, he had taken this wayward St Emilion estate in hand. The estate was purchased in 1996, and by 2000 the entire vineyard, bolstered by the acquisition at this time of the vines of Château Curé Bon, was being replanted. A new grape reception area was inaugurated in 2002, a new vat room in 2009, and unsurprisingly quality was on the up.
Despite this evident improvement, just before he retired in 2015 John told me he felt that while he had achieved much at both Wertheimer estates, Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Canon, the one thing he regretted was not having elevated the quality of the latter to a standard more reflective of its premier grand cru classé status. Building on the work of John Kolasa, new director Nicolas Audebert, blessed with the most benevolent of recent vintages, has perhaps achieved what his predecessor was aiming for.
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