Two cases of 2015 Chateau Canon

[JCNorthway]

Great story, and great karma, David!

[Gerry M.]

I got the tip yesterday from Gerry.
I called the Hampton North store.
The inventory said 23 bottles, but the clerk, Debbie, couldn’t find them on the shelves.
She was closing up shop at 9pm, I told her that I really wanted every bottle they had in stock, whether it was 1 or 23.
I told her I could be there at 8am (I had to be back in Lewiston for court at 10:30am.)
She couldn’t find the wines on the shelf but that she would look out back for me.
I told her to call me anytime before midnight.
She called me at 10:27pm last night and said she found two full cases — 24 bottles — on a palette out back that had just been delivered. OWC, one of the cases was opened, one sealed.
They were waiting for me at the front counter this morning as I arrived right at 8am.
The transaction took less than five minutes, and I was back on the road to Maine.
Gerry has indeed explained the NH policy.
This is one of my best heists ever, second only to the legendary 1995 Petrus for $275 transaction, although even that was in an entirely different era.

Thanks again Gerry!!!!

Happy to say my local NH store came thru with a case of 2015 Ch Canon for the bargain price of $99/bt. It was minus the wood case but who cares.

[Frederico]

An opposite story.

I was at a wine boutique when they had annual sale for 15% off everything. I saw Beychevelle '15 priced at $50Cdn ($38US). With sale discount it would be $30US a pop. I was so excited but in the end it was priced wrong by mistake and the store did not honour the posted price. Sigh.

[DavidG]

So has anyone popped one of these ITNOS? Or would that be an affront to the Bordeaux gods?

[JimHow]

I was thinking of uncorking one with Tom and Gail over this past weekend but we had plenty of other wine to keep us occupied.
Perhaps it would be a good bottle to uncork in the room at the upcoming 19th annual BWE convention in the spring....

[Tom In DC]

I don't think we've ever had a hard-core ITNOS tasting at the convention before...

[DavidG]

Well this thread just can’t be complete without a TN on the wine. I’ll remedy that. Brought one up from the cellar and popped at 6:45.

2015 Canon
Just got these in and had to give one a spin. Pop and pour. Black core, purplish red at the rim.

Nose is there right away, no waiting or coaxing needed: dark fruits, flowers, moist potting soil, some oaky vanilla and tar.

Full bodied, creamy silky palate-coating lush fruit with good balancing acidity that keeps it fresh, label says 15% ABV but I’m not getting any alcoholic heat, can feel the tannins but no bitter or harsh notes to them. Very long finish.

Will check back hourly and report back.

[DavidG]

After a couple of hours the nose is more intense with a bit of cherry added to the dark fruits, earth, flowers and oaky notes. Tannins are more evident but the ripe fruit and balance are still there.

Obviously no aged complexity yet. My only criticism is that it’s not showing much Bordeaux-ness but I wouldn’t expect that at this early stage. Not an AFWE wine and may never be, but it’s balanced, not overly sweet or too ripe. This is a baby monster and while it’s pumping out plenty to love right now, I’ll be waiting for that Bordeaux complexity to show up in another 15-20 years. Outstanding.

[JimHow]

Interesting. When I think of Canon I think of that distinctive minerality that we literally physically experienced back in 2015. I thought that that incredibly distinctive terroir combined with a distinctive vintage might indeed produce something special. Thanks David for the sacrifice in the name of science! I'm not sure I have any clearer assessment, though, of whether this is something extraordinary. It is outstanding, but is it 100+++?

[Gerry M.]

I appreciate the note but if you eliminated the winery I'd guess you were describing a Cali zin rather than Bordeaux.

[Nicklasss]

Great note David.

I'm sorry but "flowers and moist potting soil" are aromas/flavors that I clearly associate to red Bordeaux. No mismatch possible there as I never had these in any California wine, Cab or Merlot or Zin.

The minerality and flower components were very evident in the Canon and Clinet when I tasted them early this year.

Nic

[marcs]

I believe it is Jim's duty to open one of his 487 bottles of 2015 Canon and give us a TN so we can calibrate Dave's observations. Being an all-powerful dictator comes with responsibilities as well as privileges!

[JimHow]

You don't understand Marcus. If I drink even just one bottle from a case, the other 11 will be gone within 18 months.

[Chateau Vin]

You don't understand Marcus. If I drink even just one bottle from a case, the other 11 will be gone within 18 months.

I think the case was already opened. At least the pictures in the backseat of the car show so... You can blame the store for not giving a sealed wooden case...

[DavidG]

This could have been put into a flight of big Napa cabs and gone undetected. Flowers and moist potting soil are Bordeaux-esque, but the ripe fruit and oak notes were pretty Napa.

Minerality? OK, some, but not a striking characteristic. Unless my crisp acidity is your minerality. Still not the foremost characteristic.

My bet is that this will be much more identifiable as Bordeaux in 15-20 years.

Finished the last 1/3 of the bottle tonight and it hasn’t changed a bit. Peggy says "I could drink this every night." Same thing she said about the 1995 Beaucastel we had a few days ago.

Would love to compare notes Jim but only if you promise to nail the case shut again after removing a bottle.

[Tom In DC]

From Jim's original post, one of the cases has no lid. It's an act of sheer willpower to leave all of that dozen resting...

[JimHow]

Ha you'll note that hours later I took a wood cover from a pile of empty cases in the garage, placed it atop the case at the bottom, and stored both cases away, to save me from myself....

[JimHow]

...you think I'm joking.

[marcs]

You don't understand Marcus. If I drink even just one bottle from a case, the other 11 will be gone within 18 months.

Jim...that is because you love YOUNG Bordeaux. It is not for nothing that your acolytes here speak of "How-ing" a YOUNG Bordeaux. If you don't drink at least one bottle of this soon-to-be-legendary Bordeaux while it is still YOUNG, you won't just be cheating us, your faithful followers...you will be cheating YOURSELF of a unique and irreplaceable experience! This wine may reach some hypothetical "peak" after long aging, but it will never again be a chubby-cheeked young infant Bordeaux. Its moment for being "How-ed" is now and can never be repeated! And unless you are lucky enough to stumble across a similar pricing anomaly in your ever-dwindling future years of life, you will never again have enough bottles of a celebrated multi-hundred point overpriced Bordeaux to allow you to HOW one (or more!) bottles young without even a trace of guilt or regret!

THE TIME TO HOW IS NOW, THE WINE IS 2015 CANON!

[marcs]

This could have been put into a flight of big Napa cabs and gone undetected. Flowers and moist potting soil are Bordeaux-esque, but the ripe fruit and oak notes were pretty Napa.

Minerality? OK, some, but not a striking characteristic. Unless my crisp acidity is your minerality. Still not the foremost characteristic.

My bet is that this will be much more identifiable as Bordeaux in 15-20 years.

I wonder at the rapturous reviews of young Bordeaux that are all fruit and basically just taste like Napa. Not the first time I've heard about this.

But I'm with you David in that I find it VERY hard to tell much from very young Bordeaux. Even though some of my epiphany Bordeaux wines were 2000 Bdx in 2004-2005 when I thought they were amazing...go figure. But since then I have had multiple experiences with recently bottled young Bdx that I just find overwhelmingly fruity and hard to make any sense of. (For the latest example see my thread on the 2015 Chevalier).

[DavidG]

While Marcus is giving you the hard sell, Jim, I’ll just say that my philosophy is that each day offers an opportunity to drink a great wine. I can always buy more Bordeaux, but I can’t buy any more days.

[DavidG]

This could have been put into a flight of big Napa cabs and gone undetected. Flowers and moist potting soil are Bordeaux-esque, but the ripe fruit and oak notes were pretty Napa.

Minerality? OK, some, but not a striking characteristic. Unless my crisp acidity is your minerality. Still not the foremost characteristic.

My bet is that this will be much more identifiable as Bordeaux in 15-20 years.

I wonder at the rapturous reviews of young Bordeaux that are all fruit and basically just taste like Napa. Not the first time I've heard about this.

But I'm with you David in that I find it VERY hard to tell much from very young Bordeaux. Even though some of my epiphany Bordeaux wines were 2000 Bdx in 2004-2005 when I thought they were amazing...go figure. But since then I have had multiple experiences with recently bottled young Bdx that I just find overwhelmingly fruity and hard to make any sense of. (For the latest example see my thread on the 2015 Chevalier).

If I’m wrong and these don’t turn into Bordeaux, I can send them off to auction.

A lot of 1990s were all ripe sweet fruit as babies. Look at the notes Ian posted today on his 1990 dinner: they had plenty of Bordeaux typicity, even the right bankers. Just look at that wonderful note for La Conseillante. I drank too many of my 1990s before they hit their peaks. Clearly the wines are more alcoholic in 2015 but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

[marcs]

For those not on Wineberserkers, David also posted the TN there and got an interesting response from an old timer who said that Dave's TN sounded like his first taste of the 1964 Canon. So maybe it is nothing new to have Bordeaux that are lush in their youth!

https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/vi ... 1&t=154870

[Nicklasss]

Ok, I'll chime in again.

A proposal : as the BD purchased 2 FULL cases of 2015 Canon at a ridiculous price, he should select 23 BWEers blindly, ship them a bottle each, and plan a date/time for a virtual tasting. Than we would have a real verdict for the 2015 Canon.

By doing that, the BD would demonstrate his immense generosity, his infinite appreciation of fair wine rating, his total devotion for red Bordeaux and the community he created and respect.

Hail to the BD!

Nic

[Comte Flaneur]

David: Thanks for taking one for a spin for the team!