Château Canon, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2025
The 2025 Canon is another belter from Nicolas Audebert. Power in a different guise. The limestone plateau has produced some remarkable wines that express their terroir with aplomb. Dark, serious and savoury initially, intriguing, with real limestone energy and a very precise, lovely, freshness. Its composed bouquet is all class, forest fruits, jasmine, damsons and black cherry - lots of floral complexity with suggestions of pipe tobacco and all spice, then a creamy core of briar and bramble fruit combines with touches of cacao nib and coffee bean. We love the freshness and energy here - lifted, tense and floral. This beautifully delineated, seductive fruit is cosseted by high-definition tannins replete with salts and minerals. More and more bright fruit and floral elements develop with aeration. A deftly made, super successful Canon.
critic reviews
The 2025 Canon was picked between August 28 and September 18 at 40 hl/ha. This is very pure and refined on the nose, with wonderful delineation, not as flattering as, say, the 2015 or 2019 at this stage, yet very focused and mineral-driven. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, quite sapid, with a pinch of cracked black pepper. Like its "sister", Berliquet, the limestone terroir comes through and seems to "tingle" on the finish. Maybe not a crowd-pleaser, but I like its uncompromising nature that reflects its place of birth.
An impressive Canon, seductive limestone character that showcases what was possible in the vintage. Slate, chalk and pumice stone, all wrapped up in bright and vivid iris flowers, push and pull momentum through the palate where things stop, take a breath, then kick off again with a new layer of nuanced understated toasted spice and cool blue fruits. Deft, skilful, rooted in place. 40hl/h yield. Tasted twice. Nicolas Audebert director. Thomas Duclos consultant. 3.5ph.
A blend of 76% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Franc, the 2025 Canon continues this property's brilliant decade-long run of exceptional wines. Unwinding in the glass with a complex bouquet of cherries and raspberries mingled with hints of exotic spices, licorice and petals, it's medium- to full-bodied, suave and concentrated, with a bright spine of acidity and a long, penetrating finish. Harvest stretched from August 28 to September 18.