Chateau Canon, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux 2016

When buccaneer, Jacques Kanon, acquired an estate surrounded by vines on 2nd April, 1760, little did he know that, 250 years later, the château would be world-famous for its wine, ranked among the finest of crus. But he did give it his name for all posterity. Over the course of history, the K was changed to a C, a clairvoyant move, given that the château is now owned by the brand with the double C!

This property with a war-like name arose from the fascination of a sea-faring man for the Saint-Emilion area. It was he who had the château built and created the wine estate that produces soft, feminine, elegant and well-balanced wines. A transcendent serenity emanates from its vines which grow together in a single vineyard. The impossible symbiosis between the call of the open sea and the draw of the land.

Vines have been grown on these same parcels for 500 years. Their roots plunge down into sediments which have survived the ages. As a witness to the forces that shaped and sculpted the fossil-rich limestone subsoils, the wine of Château Canon combines power and finesse and have excellent cellaring potential.

When the CHANEL Company bought Château Canon in 1996, having already acquired Château Rauzan-Segla in Margaux in 1994, it decided to invest heavily in the property to enable its wines to attain the full magnitude of a Saint-Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classé, once again. The vineyards, winery and facilities are as they are today thanks to a true concern to preserve the heritage of the past.

This is how a great wine is made – with a healthy regard for time, never trying to hurry it along. Since 1760, the château has been transmitting this philosophy to the men and women who have lived within its walls.

CHANEL’s investment plan was complemented by the acquisition, in 2011, of a bordering estate on the foothills of the Saint-Emilion plateau. This 11-hectare vineyard, the flagship of the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru appellation, has spawned a new wine: “Croix Canon Saint-Emilion Grand Cru”. A former 12th-century chapel is home to this second wine, produced with all the expertise of the 1er Grand Cru Classé, and which has its own facilities, vat-house and cellars for vinification and ageing.