Hopes and
Dreams: Canon Chaigneau 1998-2019

BY NEAL MARTIN | MAY 19, 2020Since I began writing
about Bordeaux, I have profiled practically every major Bordeaux estate on the
Left and Right banks. Coverage tends toward the best-known names, since they
garner the widest interest. These are properties that are generally able to
weather the storm of the current pandemic. There is money in the bank. The
brand will always be globally recognized. Négociants will still need to run a
business and request allocations once this is over. And self-isolating at your
pad down in Cap Féret isn’t so bad. Of course, I would not wish the predicament
on anyone, but the truth is that the short- and long-term effects of COVID-19
are not evenly spread.

What if you are not a
famous name? 

What if you are one
of thousands of Bordeaux estates fighting for recognition? 

What if you are not located in the most prestigious appellation,
but one oft overlooked? 

What if, after months
of searching and negotiating loans, you were on the cusp of acquiring your
first property when COVID-19 reared its ugly head? 

What then?

Romik Arconian from
Canon Chaigneau sent me an impromptu e-mail entitled “How do I get tasted”
early this year. There was nothing new about that inquiry, and to be frank, I
had never heard of the château. But the message piqued my interest and I
decided to follow it up. Part of my motivation was that one easily falls into a
ritual of reviewing less-renowned appellations almost by proxy, usually as a sub-section
of a consultant’s portfolio, instead of actually going there.
Lalande-de-Pomerol is so near and yet so far – Canon Chaigneau is located only
a five-minute drive away from Petrus. Yet how often have I actually visited a
property anywhere within that appellation? ”Not often enough” is the answer. So
samples of older vintages were duly dispatched and a Skype call arranged so
that I could put a face to the story unfolding away from the glitz of Grand Cru
Classés. And I am glad I did. It was a welcome dose of reality, a pertinent
reminder that Bordeaux is a fluid landscape of haves and have-nots.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1589896402030-canon_chaigneau_bottles.jpg"> 

Arconian told me that
the Marin family (émigres from
Algeria) has owned Canon Chaigneau since around 1961. They expanded plantings
from a two-hectare nub located close to Château Siaurac. The children inherited
the estate after their parents passed away at the end of the 1960s. Louis Marin
took over as vineyard manager. Incidentally, his son is a chef at Cheval Blanc.
Since there was no obvious heir in waiting, the family saw little option but to
put the estate on the market. So how did it end up (almost) in the hands of
Arconian?

“I was actually born
in Wimbledon [London], my dad is Armenian and my mother English,” he told me.
“I did my third year of studies in Paris, finished my degree in French and
economics, and moved back to Paris after graduating, starting my own wine
distribution company in 2005. I sold my wine business in Paris in 2017 to&nbsp;Matthieu Decoster, whose family owns La Fleur Cardinale. I had been looking for
a property for a while. Having worked in the wine industry, it seemed like a
natural progression. I was considering more the south of France, but everything
is so expensive and you don’t really get much value unless you go to Côte de
Provence or Côteaux d’Aix, where it is difficult to sell the wines for much
more than the cost of making them. I love Pomerol, but that was too costly. But
I did want an interesting appellation.
I didn’t know Lalande-de-Pomerol, at least not as much as I do now, though I
was open to anywhere. Canon Chaigneau was actually beyond my means, so I was
looking for investors, and in the end, one or two dropped out. But the owners
agreed to stay on as minority shareholders with 30% of the business. I had to
take a large bank loan – a bit of a headache with what is going on at the
moment.”<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1589896467902-canon_chaigneau_family_shot.jpg"> 

This photograph symbolizes Bordeaux: outgoing
proprietor Louis Marin on the left, representing what you might call “old
Bordeaux,” and the incoming Arconian family, Romik and his wife Marine with
their young son, about to chart a new course. 

This is what Arconian
is hoping will happen. In 2020, all
plans are up in the air. “We were due to sign at the end of March,” he explained.
“It got delayed as SAFER has to grant a two-month right of first refusal to
purchase the property, which is apparently a formality. But until they get back
to work, the two-month period cannot start running again. We will sign
hopefully in May when this is over.”

And how does he feel
about the future? “Of course, I’m terrified at the prospect of having to sell
all this Bordeaux, since the market has already been very difficult, and moving
forward, with the predicted recession, potentially even worse. But I convince
myself that it will be okay, given the quality of terroir and also the
winemaking under the guidance of Thierry Garnaud, who was at Cheval Blanc for so
long. I think... I hope that the
banks will be patient enough to allow us to get through what might be a few
difficult years. There is a lot of very good-quality competition at our price
point, though, both in Bordeaux and elsewhere.”

I asked Arconian
about the economics of selling Bordeaux at this price level. Historically, the
Marin family had sold a large part (and occasionally the entirety) of their
production to négociants or bottled under different labels for between €3.50
and €5.00 per bottle.

“I think despite the
conditions, we should be able to do it. It is certainly more difficult to sell
Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur than appellation wines. Consumers like an appellation
even if they are not overly familiar with it. They recognize it as a stamp of
quality. Nowadays, even entry-level Pomerol wines have become so expensive that
you cannot get a Pomerol of decent quality at retail now for €30
or €40. I don’t think a lot of people know there
is a difference between Pomerol and Lalande-de-Pomerol, and a lot of wines from
Lalande-de-Pomerol are as good as Pomerol anyway, so they can offer bang for the
buck. People want to spend around €20–25 in a wine shop. We have back vintages to
sell and at the moment I don’t know how much to sell en primeur. Ideally, I
would like to release the wine when it is ready to drink because so many
restaurants sell wine that is much too young. It doesn’t make sense.”<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1589896499567-canon_chaigneau_vineyard_map_copy.jpg"> 

This aerial shot shows the location of the
vineyards. The wooded area is Siaurac, now owned by Artemis Domaines. 

At least the Marin
family maintained the 21-hectare vineyard in good condition, the vines tended lutte raisonnée (so no long-term
pesticide usage to eradicate) and replaced when they died. The vineyard is comprised
of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec that had all been harvested
mechanically in the past, though Arconian plans to change to manual picking,
calculating that cost-wise, it does not work out that much more. The winery is
what you might call “old school,” with a high ceiling and thick walls, equipped
with ceramic tanks. “I am a big fan of López de Heredia, so I like the old-fashioned
way of winemaking,” Arconian told me. “When it gets too hot we have to manually
cool things off by opening windows and using ice. I would like to install
thermo-regulation, but of course, that costs. If the ferment gets stuck, we use
the pressed wine to get it going again.”

There are clearly
challenges ahead for Arconian, but challenges that are not insurmountable. His
wife, Marine Fontana, graduated as an agricultural engineer, and she is due to
take over as vineyard manager, although she will have her hands full as she is
expecting their second child in October. Tasting through vintages spanning the
last 20 years, if I am to be honest, I found older vintages telling a story of
untapped potential, intermittent releases such as the 2007 and 2012 showing what
could be achieved and others failing to pass muster. This can be attributed to
reliance on mechanical harvesting and absence of temperature control in what is
a rudimentary winery. Recent vintages show much more promise, not least the two
cuvées from 2019, the first where the prospective new owners had a hand in the
winemaking. “The 2019 Canon Chaigneau is a 66,000-bottle production matured in
33% new oak, 500-liter barrels from Taransaud, Sylvain and Demptos chosen by
Thierry Garnaud,” Arconian explained. “There is another cuvée that will
probably be bottled earlier, which is matured just in the cement vats, though
I’m not sure of the name yet.” I actually preferred the cuvée that I
provisionally titled “Ex Animo,” since it showed impressive brightness and
vigor.

It is always
enjoyable to write about a property opening a fresh chapter, looking ahead to new
possibilities. That it coincides with such upheaval must surely cause sleepless
nights in the Arconian household. They put everything on the line to support
their growing family, only to see their dreams jeopardized by a virus beyond
anyone’s control. No doubt they are not the only ones in a similar situation.
Alas, I cannot write about every Bordeaux estate, but hopefully this piece
serves as a reminder that this vast region is not only about the affluent Grand
Cru Classés, and that not far from multi-million-euro wineries lie others
dreaming about fermentation temperature control. These smaller, less well-known
estates are Bordeaux’s lifeblood. Its future depends on people like Arconian
reinvigorating previously underperforming châteaux and offering Bordeaux lovers
something new and something affordable, especially if the region hopes to
recapture a younger audience.<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/wines?sort%5Bdirection%5D=desc&amp;sort%5Bname%5D=vintage&amp;wf_dirty=false&amp;wf_export_fields=&amp;wf_export_format=&amp;wf_id=&amp;wf_match=all&amp;wf_model=Wine&amp;wf_name=&amp;wf_order=vintage&amp;wf_order_type=desc&amp;wf_page=1&amp;wf_per_page=25&amp;wf_submitted=true&amp;wf_type=WillFilter%3A%3AFilter&amp;wine_filter%5Barticle_id%5D=2616&amp;wine_filter%5Bproducer_id%5D=27171">See the Wines from Youngest to Oldest</a><hr>You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/remember-remember-1945-bordeaux-may-2020">Remember, Remember: 1945 Bordeaux,</a> Neal Martin, May 2020 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/no-relation-clos-saint-martin-1964-2017-apr-2020">No Relation: Clos Saint-Martin 1964-2017</a>, Neal Martin, April 2020 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/in-good-taste-branaire-ducru-1928-2013-mar-2020">In Good Taste: Branaire-Ducru 1928-2013</a>, Neal Martin, March 2020<div><a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/a-century-not-out-talbot-1919-2010-oct-2019">A Century (Not Out): Talbot 1919-2010</a>, Neal Martin, October 2019</div><div><div><div></div></div></div>

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