Château Canon, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2020

Name: Château Canon, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion
Brand: Château Canon
Price: 653.12 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2015 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Nicolas Audebert describes the 2020 Canon as “the taste of victory”. This is yet another in what is becoming a precession of exceptional vintages from this château perched enviably on the limestone plateau of St Emilion. A regal bouquet reveals red and blue fruits, cloves, notes of seaweed, violets and roses. Quite spectacular. Coiled and reserved yet harnessing such complexity – controlled and sophisticated. The palate continues in a similar vein; there’s no excess of flamboyance, just taut, defined, beautifully delineated fruit: cool cassis, fine minerals, such fluidity and poise, so finely textured and detailed. There’s tremendous length and power without weight or heaviness. It finishes with a graceful, salty minerality and a bright burst of fresh berries. Utterly harmonious, there’s a real sense of cohesion from start to middle to the very long and detailed finale. When we returned to this several hours later, the fruit was beginning to open up, showing a little more exuberance. There’s no doubt this is another exceptional vintage for Canon. 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc.

critic reviews

98/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2020 Canon is very succinct on the nose, beautifully defined with extraordinarily pure red fruit laced with pressed violet and iris flower. The oak is perfectly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, fresh and almost citric, very vibrant and precise with a quite peppery finish. God made wine so that it can taste as good as this. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

DRINKING WINDOW 2030 - 2065

date of review 11/2024

100/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The brilliant 2020 Canon looks set to surpass both the 2019 and 2016 as this estate's finest wine since the post-war period, though like many of the best 2020s, it will require more patience than its 2019 counterpart. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries and raspberries mingled with notions of exotic spices and iris, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with vibrant acids and beautifully polished, chalky tannins. Pure and precise, it concludes with a long, mouthwatering finish. This beautifully constructed wine communicates the essence of this superb limestone terroir, and it will be worth a special effort to track down and cellar.

DRINKING WINDOW 2030 - 2065

date of review 04/2023

99/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

The 2020 Canon is composed of 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc. Deep purple-black colored, it leaps with gregarious notions of red currant jelly, fresh, crunchy plums, and wild blueberries, leading to suggestions of cedar chest, violets, clove oil, and licorice with a waft of truffles. The full-bodied palate is chock-full of vibrant black and red berry layers, supported by super-plush tannins and fantastic tension, finishing long and energetic. Gorgeous!

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2068

date of review 03/2023

100/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Stunning, grab-a-friend, insanely good wine. The structure and tannic grip manage to be both barely there and tightly controlling, giving form and space for the raspberry, blueberry and pomegrante fruits to crowd in the palate, followed by oyster shell salinity, pummice stone scrape and electic points of mandarin peel and lemon grass. Finished with pure no messing about juiciness. 50% new barrels, 3.53ph. Harvest 4 September to 23 September. 50% new oak, 40hl/ha yield. Thomas Duclos consultant, Nicolas Audebert director.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2046

date of review 02/2023