St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Canon has magnificent walled terroir atop the famous limestone plateau to the south and south-west side of St Emilion. It has produced a very pure and harmonious 2014 with a floral, perfumed quality that is very attractive. Croix Canon is plummy and fresh with layered fruit and nice delicacy. John Kolasa’s long stint at the helm here, a period which has coincided with the renaissance of the property since it was bought by Maison Chanel, comes to an end with this vintage as Kolasa has announced his retirement. It marks the end of an era.

Château Latour has produced a focused set of wines in 2012. They have finesse and precision but felt perhaps a little leaner than 2011 at the same stage. Now that Latour have abandoned selling en primeur the snapshot of these wines in their youth is possibly a bit academic given that it will be a few years, at least, before even the most junior Pauillac will be released, let alone Les Forts and the grand vin itself. Handy, then, that the wine that stole the show on the morning I tasted at Latour was their Pauillac 2009, the current release of the ‘third’ wine. It’s stunning. Immediately it reminds you just how pedestrian much Pauillac is in 2012. Oh 2009, how we miss you!

I recently had the chance to tuck into a couple of bottles of great Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Clos des Papes, made by Paul and Vincent Avril. These guys make terrific Chateauneuf, big bold and ripe but still with freshness and fruit. A dozen years ago I had a great trip to their cellars with Olivier Hickman [www.wine-uncovered.com] and we were treated to a mini-horizontal from 1997 back to 1990 – the later an utterly fabulous wine. Their white Chateauneuf  is also fascinating and ages wonderfully.

Napa’s close to my heart, where my wine bug began after visiting in the late 1980s, so it was good to see the Napa Valley Vintners Association back at the London Wine Fair last week. Heitz’s Trailside Cabernet ’05 immediately reminded me what’s exciting about the valley and of the fact that the old ones are often still the best. In this respect too there were good benchmark Napa Cabs from Grgich Hills, Chateau Montelena [actually tasted courtesy of Bancroft Wines], Silverado Vineyards, Cain and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.