Chateau Canon 1996
Chateau Canon 1996, is a stylish Bordeaux wine. With a real sensation of minerality, ripe dark berries, licorice and spicy scents, coupled with an opulent personality, it’s a wine for consumers with patience. That is because Chateau Canon often takes at least 10-15 or more years before it’s open and ready to drink.
Located on the top of the Saint Emilion limestone plateau, in view of the village started out life as a part of the Clos St. Martin vineyard in the 1700’s.
In 1760, when the St. Emilion vineyard was much smaller than it is today at 13 hectares, it was purchased by Jacques Kanon. Kanon was an interesting character who earned his fortune as a privateer. Privateer was societies polite way of saying pirate in those days.
Jacques Kanon expanded the vineyard and estate, bringing it much closer in size to what we have today at Chateau Canon. Kanon also ordered the construction of the original chateau, which was completed in 1767. Kanon sold the estate to Raymond Fontemoing, a Bordeaux wine merchant, after owning the property for about a decade.
There seem to be conflicting theories as to where Chateau Canon took its name. Logically, it would appear that Canon is a phonetic spelling of Kanon. But the Fontemoing family, who just purchased the estate already owned a property in Fronsac named Chateau Canon when they bought their St. Emilion vineyards.
It’s reasonable to assume they wanted to expand their brand name, and began selling both of their wines under the same name of Chateau Canon. Either way, by 1770, the wines of what we know of today as Chateau Canon had become an established St. Emilion wine.
Chateau Canon is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Chateau Canon is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised and grilled dishes. Chateau Canon is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms and pasta.
