Back in Fribourg at the home of Switzerland’s most prolific Bordeaux collector together with the French wine critic Jean-Marc Quarin who led through the evening.
Two famous St.Emilion producers, Dufau-Lagarrosse rose to fame when it got 100 Points from Robert Parker in 1990 and again in 2009. Canon is a classic experienced a strong revival under the Channel ownership. Both Chateau are on the limestone plateau with blends around 75/25 Merlot/CabFranc. Naturally this terroir should make elegant wines. Canon is 5x bigger in size than Beauséjour-Duffau. 1996 Chanel a bought Canaon and Duffau was sold to the Clarins cosmetics group in 2021. Channel decided to replant all vines and cellar due to Chloranisol taint (damp moldy smell). Thus Canon had very light wines in the first 10 years after that and continued this style of more elegant Bordeaux. Duffau also remade the cellar in 2008, however decided to make a much denser wine with later picking. After 2020 the apparently they dialed back a notch from that concept of extractions.
The summary is quite striking, while Canon showed consistently well, many of the Duffau-Lagarosse wines show premox (premature oxidation) with strong Maggi seasoning (lovage herb) scent as well as pruney, cooked fruit. A striking example that late picking and extraction is a recipe for disaster if you want to have an elegant, age worthy Bordeaux . Let’s hope that Duffau learned from that and makes more consistent and wines going forward
Tasting Notes
Flight 1 – 2011 and 2005
2011 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 87 Points
Dark garnet. Expressive nose. Rich, ripe fruit, pruney, cooked fruit. Extracted body, drying finish, overripe fruit confirms itself on the finish. I think they have tried to do more than the vintage could do. Not pleasant.
2011 Château Canon, 88 Points
Medium garnet. Muted nose. Light bodied. Aromas very much in the brown, earthy spectrum, some green notes. Rather lean and light.
2005 Château Canon, 89 Points
Medium garnet. Ripe strawberries with some plum as well. Bright acidity, rich body and a little drying finish as well. As so often the 2005 St.Emilions suffer from dry tannins.
2005 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 87 Points
Rich, ripe nose, lots of dry extract here as well, a touch overripe fruit intermixed with cranberries. Quite harsh and sour on the finish.
Flight 2 – 2009 and 2010
2010 Château Canon, 95 Points
Dark ruby, expressive nose of blue fruit with dark cherries. Polished palate, caressing and rich, but stays pleasant. Not the last word on complexity but lovely and complete.
2010 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 93 Points
Dark ruby, Rich and ripe, with licorice and dark fruit. Lots of structure but the tannins are better than in the first flight and the fruit is still fresh. A good notch more extracted than the 2010 Canon next to it.
2009 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 94 Points
Medium plus garnet, rich and ripe, very generous, beautiful aromas of ripe plums without being overripe. A very full throttle wine, dark chocolate on the finish with toast and caramel. Certainly plush but the package works.
2009 Château Canon, 93 Points
Discrete nose of pine, earthy elements, restraint structure marries ripe fruit. More a long distance runner than the Duffau 2009 next to it. Could add a point from here with more bottle age., 93+
Flight 3 – 2015 with Pirates
2015 Clos du Clocher, 95 Points
Ringer. Dark garnet, Beautiful nose of dark fruit, generous oak but well judged. Wonderful palate, full bodied but elegant enough to please also with food at the table. Successful showing.
2015 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 85 Points
Dark garnet, Nose with some greens, asparagus, Pruney and raspberry jam, cough syrup. Green elements despite very ripe fruit. Feels pushed. Oxidative Maggi seasoning notes emerge with air in the glass. I think they have overdone this.
2015 Château Grand-Pontet, 93 Points
Ringer. Dark garnet, Wonderful and expressive nose here, sexy and succulent, toasty oak, lots of brett, farmyard. Polished palate, very caressing. A bit too much brett for a higher score, otherwise very well done.
2015 Château Canon, 96 Points
Dark garnet, Very clean and ripe, wow, lots of aromas. Very modern, competent wine making here. The overall package convinced me very much. The strong point here is that it is generous, but not overripe.
Flight 4 – 2018 and 2020
2018 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 86 Points
Dark garnet. Very ripe nose, overripe prunes, cooked fruit. Very unpleasant aromatic profile, like Banyuls wine almost. On the palate the over-ripeness continues. Both 2018 wines were far too ripe for my palate, but Canon just escaped it being completely overdone.
2018 Château Canon, 91 Points
Dark garnet. Deep, dark ripe fruit, very dark, very ripe but no hits of overripeness but way too massive for my taste. They have not overdone this as mauch as the Duffau but could not escape the vintage either. Too much of a fruit bomb for my liking.
2020 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 95 Points
Medium garnet. Nose of sweet spices and red fruit, well judged tannins. Medium bodied palate. Very composed. Polished and fine. Together with the 2016 the best Duffau in the line-up., 95-96
2020 Château Canon, 94 Points
Medium garnet. Nose of pine, licorice, mint and toasty oak. Quite primary still, felt like it was bottled only recently. I think this is a Canon with lots of potential and my note could turn out to be conservative., 94-95
Flight 5 – 2014 and 2016
2014 Château Canon, 92 Points
Light garnet, Primary and discrete, lots of acidity, good balance though. Decent but not a grand wine.
2014 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 84 Points
Medium garnet. Good lord. This suffered from premox the most. Completely oderdone. Strong nose of oxidative Maggi seasoning. I think they tried to do more than the vintage could deliver.
2016 Château Canon, 95 Points
Medium garnet, Precise palate, licorice, forest floor, very interesting aromatic profile, will need time in bottle though. Don’t open not before 2030.
2016 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 96 Points
Medium garnet, Wow, wild nose with game, dark cherries, smoke. Precise palate, terrific tannins providing structure. No excess, dark fruit, oak, all in balance. The best Duffau of this line up. Given some premox tendencies of the other wines tonight. I surely hope this will age better., 96-97
Jean-Marc Quarin explaining the perils of late picking over-rip fruit
Flight 6 – 2019 with Pirates
2019 Château Canon, 93 Points
Medium garnet, Nose of dark fruit, sweet spices, well judge oak, medium plus bodied, buttery oak notes. Lovely may be not the last word on complexity (yet). Has upside from here., 93+
2019 Clos du Clocher, 92 Points
Ringer. Medium garnet, deep, dark extracted, good but not much aroma beyond oak, very modern, would need to add complexity from here., 92+
2019 Château Valandraud, 96 Points
Ringer. Dark garnet. Wonderful nose, wow, deep dark fruit, eucalyptus. Lots of ripe dry extract on the palate. Modern, but within the right borders. Will this age though? Let’s keep the fingers crossed.
2019 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 93 Points
Medium garnet. Expressive nose of dark fruit with oak spices. Very extracted and a little drying on the finish, Not tannic/rustic but there is a drying element on the palate that I am not sure it will disappear with age. Hard to judge. Time will tell., 92-94
Encore wines with the chese and charcuterie platter (3 Notes)
1955 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse), 96 Points
Fantastic nose of autumn leaves, cinnamon, cured meat, dried fruit and a touch of bell pepper. Soft palate, blind similar to a very old Pinot or Cote Rotie. confirms that old wines converge aromatically., 96+
2007 Château Nairac, 90 Points
Unbelievably rich. So sweet so rich, good aromas around apricot, quince, smoke and molasses, but you need to like this full throttle liqureux category. Score higher if you can handle it., 88-92
1914 Berisford Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Solera Manzanilla Pasada Jose Permartin, 87 Points
Encore wine with the Cheese and Charcuterie platter. Very oxidative, lots of nutty notes. Lean, not more complex than young Sherry really. Not a fan of this.
Author: Christian Raubach, WSET III, FWS, WSG Champagne Master
March 2024