Yesterday afternoon I hosted a vertical of Ch. Canon. OK, maybe not the wisest plan, since I had a midday speech at a church in Scarsdale. But despite my lack of prep time, recordbreaking heat on May 2nd, a demanding hound, and a few off bottles, we actually had a very good time. Kudos to all the participants for their vinuous contributions, and their willingness to help in kitchen and with dog!
One reason I wanted to do this was Canon has a reputation for having stayed quite traditional, so looking at older vintages would give one an idea of how younger vintages might age (for chateaux that drastically changed style over last 10-20 years, who knows?).
As people arrived and I fussed with last minute prep, we enjoyed the NV Andre Clouet Champagne Brut. Or at least I enjoyed it. Apples, yeast, and a little topnote of ginger. Full without being coarse. B+
I had some cheeses, pate, smoked duck breast, and sausage on table. We started in on the Canon.
2006 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) Young but fine, lovely black cherry and cassis fruit, fresh, nice length. I might look for this. B++
2005 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) (decanted for few hours, then back to bottle for few more) Tight, tight, tight when opened. Tight, tight when put back in bottle. Tight when served. Big ripe wine, but just not showing much. Revisit in 20 years. B+? For current drinking B-/C+
1998 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) Great nose, a melange of earth, coffee, bandaid, and black fruit. Medium bodied, nice mouthfeel, maybe a bit short on finish, but that's a quibble. B/B+
1990 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) (double decanted an hour before dinner) Smelled a bit advanced when opened, by dinner time showing old. Cassis, espresso, and a more pronounced bandaid aroma. Consensus was this had seen some heat at some point. This bottle, C+ (I've had better) (surprisingly, a sip several hours later was a bit better)
1989 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) This is more like it. Fresh ripe dark fruit (some felt jammy), leather, mocha. Elegant, balanced, firm. A-
1986 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) Corked. Some commented they thought there was a good wine underneath, but I didn't go poking around.
1985 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) (opened but not decanted an hour before before dinner) I was fussing with grill and didn't write anything down, but this was one of my faves. Complex, elegant, pretty. A-
1983 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) (opened an hour before before dinner, cork was sawdust, decanted and covered) This was from same California store as the '90. Don't think I'll be buying Canon there anymore. Fried. Too bad, I enjoyed this at an 83 vertical last year. D
1982 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) (opened an hour or so, decanted shortly before serving) Firing on all cylinders. Great length, class. Mark commented "1st growth quality". Lovely wine, classic St Emilion. A
(OK, so embarrasing story. I thought I had lined up bottles in order, with backups (for those where I had backups) to one side. I had brought up what I thought was 70 and 75, but as John was opening he said "we have 2 1970s?" I had capsule off one bottle, good timing, retrieved the 75. Close call)
1975 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) Probably most controversial wine of the night. Some found it dirty, but to me the light barnyard notes were well within tolerance level. Still some tannins, burly sort of St Emilion, with black plum, cassis, leather, and barnyard. B+
1970 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) This was the one initially opened, though it actually was supposed to be a backup. Pretty advanced, cassis and leather, with air some ashtray. B-/C+
1970 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) So we opened the other one. Aha, now THIS is more like it. Dark fruits, cherries, coffee, herbs, cumin. Complex, elegant, complete. A-
1966 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) Cigarbox, leather, some red fruit hanging on. Maybe a bit past prime (midshoulder bottle), but I found quite enjoyable. B/B+
1952 Ch. Canon (St. Emilion) This is amazing youthful for 58. Solid giving dark fruit, tobacco, earth/ferric notes, menthol. A-/A
Really solid showing overall, and I will continue to look for young and old Canon. Lots of character.
We passed around 2 cheesecakes Ramon had brought, plus a berry tart. There were 2 wines to finish
2001 Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten Rieslaner Auslese Lush, tropical, apricot botrytis notes, plenty of acidity to balance the fat. B+/A-
2008 AJ Adam Riesling Spatlese (Mosel) I neglected to note vineyard. Nice, zippy acidity, bright fruit. I liked but didn't find this exciting, but placement suffered- sure this would have shown better pre-meal or by itself, tough to be paired with a super rich Auslese. B/B+, probably deserves better.
Fun day/ evening, thanks all
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.