| Canon 2003 • December 2004 | CANON - 1st Great Classified Growth "B"
2003 Vintage
- Surface area :
22 hectares (54.34 acres), of which 16.5 hectares (40.75 acres) are in production (in 2003)
- Yield :
28 hectolitres per hectare
- Terroir :
Clay-limestone plateau. South/South-west exposure
- Grape varieties :
- 75% Merlot
- 25% Cabernet Franc
- Density of plantation:
5,500 plants per hectare
- Average age of the vines :
25 years
- Vineyard management :
- Double Guyot pruning
- Manual leaf thinning
- Crop thinning before colour change
- An environmentally – friendly spray programme.
- Growing season :
After a dry season with very high temperatures (unseen for 50 years), the picking was done three weeks in advance. The grape selection was very strict as we had to eliminate burnt, dry berries. The terribly hot august permitted to obtain a very good ripeness of the fruit and extremely good quality of the skins, high levels of sugar with low levels of acidity.
- Harvest :
- Merlot : from Tuesday September 9 to Monday September 15 (with no breaks)
- Cabernet Franc : Tuesday the 15th and Wednesday the 16th September
Since the 2002 vintage, the new harvest reception system permits to select berries with high precision.
After a careful manipulation with a first sorting on the vines, the bunches were collected whole in small 20 kg crates and a 2nd selection of the bunches on a first vibrating sorting table at the entrance of the cellar enabled any unwanted vegetation, such as berries affected by millerandage, pieces of branches or leaves in the bunches to be discarded.
The de-stemming is done mechanically, after a final manual sorting of the berries was carried out on a second vibrating sorting table (longer than the 1st ) so as to ensure that only the best grapes went into the vat. With the berries being spread out, this 3 rd sorting made it possible to remove any pink-coloured or damaged berries.
The grapes fall into small stainless steel troughs (3Hl), which are raised by fork lift tucks to be emptied by gravity into wooden vats, thus avoiding any pumping of the grapes.
- Vinification :
- Alcoholic fermentation (8 days) and 10 to 15 days maceration in temperature-controlled wooden vats with two daily pump-overs of half or whole the volume of the vats and one punching down of the cap of skins.
- Malo-latic fermentation (from 7 to 18 days) in stainless steal vats and barrels
- Ageing :
In oak barrels, of which 50% are brand new, racking every three months, fining with fresh egg whites and no filtering.
- Second wine :
Clos Canon
- Production :
Château Canon – about 40 000 bottles
Clos Canon – about 20 000 bottles (second label)
- Managing Director :
Mr John Kolasa
- Cellar master :
M. Stéphane Bonnasse
- Vineyard manager :
M. Hervé des Garets
- Contacts :
Tel : +33 (0)5 57 55 23 45 – Fax : +33 (0)5 57 24 68 00
contact@chateau-canon.com
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