Tasted at the Chateau Canon vertical, the 1989 Canon is a delightful Saint Emilion and this is the best bottle that I have encountered. It has a classic Saint Emilion bouquet with vestiges of red berry fruit mixed with soy, leather and a touch of ox-tail. It is fully mature but in many ways, more vigorous now than the 1982 Canon. The palate is very well balanced with fine tannin and a superb seam of acidity. Very harmonious in the mouth, it is clearly at its peak now after 26 years, quite savory with a pinch of cracked black pepper enlivening the almost Rh?ne-like finish. What a beautiful 1989 Saint Emilion, but as Robert Parker originally mentioned, it was probably the final great wine before matters went awry in the 1990s due to lack of investment and an infection in the winery. Tasted October 2015.

Starts up slowly on the palate, then builds to lovely, sweet fruit flavors. Dark-ruby color. Dusty, smoky, gamy and berry aromas open to a full-bodied palate with loads of ripe fruit and chocolate and a long, sweet aftertaste. A beauty.--1989 Bordeaux horizontal. Drink now through 2006. -JS

A beautiful wine, and probably the last great Canon until the new administration gets its act completely together, this wine still has a deep ruby/garnet color, with some lightening at the edge. A knockout nose of sweet black fruits (primarily currants) intermixed with a bit of cherry, vanilla, and an almost roasted note is enticing and persistent. Full-bodied, moderately tannic, with excellent extraction, flavor, expansiveness, and texture, this is a pure, impressively endowed Canon. Anticipated maturity: Now-2015. Last tasted, 10/02.