Bordeaux 2024: Chateau Canon and L’If

Nicolas Audebert has completed a decade at Chateau Canon, and what a decade it has been. He hit the ground running with the impeccable 2015 and each and every subsequent vintage has been a triumph. The 2024 continues this sequence, a wonderfully expressive and complex wine, reflective of this superb limestone terroir. Antonio Galloni describes the `24 as “a real stunner”, a sentiment we wholeheartedly concur with.

“The 2024 Canon is shaping up brilliantly, wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet cherries, blackberries and raspberries mingled with notions of rose petals and spices. Medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with tangy acids (the pH is a very low 3.35) and ultrarefined tannins, it concludes with a long, mineral finish. A blend of 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Franc, it's the estate's first year of organic certification.” 93-95/100 – William Kelley, Wine Advocate

“This is a gorgeous Canon, with the austerity of limestone on full display, as you would expect in this vintage, but a creamy edge comes in through the mid palate. Clear precision, flesh pared from flesh, peony, peach pit, cherry stone, damson, blueberry, graphite, crayon, pumice, lemongrass, gunsmoke, this has tons of layers and waves of complexity, classical and balanced. 44hl/ha yield, organic certified. 3.35 pH. 49% new oak. Harvest 19 September to 9 October.” 95/100 – Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com

“The 2024 Canon is superb. One of the standouts of the vintage, the 2024 possesses striking mid-palate depth to match its vertical personality. Chalk, white pepper, mint, lavender, rose petal, slate and blue/purplish fruit all stain the palate. There's gorgeous depth and density here, and yet the 2024 remains a super-classic wine from the property. This is a real stunner. That's all there is to it. Tasted four times. 2034 – 2059” 95-97/100 – Antonio Galloni, vinous.com

Jacques Thienpont’s L’If hails from another limestone terroir to the east of the village. Now under the watchful eye of Diana Berrouet Garcia, the 2024 L’If is an energetic, vibrant and adeptly composed example.

“Love the aromatics here, and vibrant ruby colour, this is a real success and bright spot in the vintage, one to look out for, fragrant, tomato leaf, peony, lilac, raspberry fruits, lots of energy and delicate juice, not a powerhouse but skilful and early to medium drinking. 3.37 ph. Harvest 4 to 8 October, really held on to push for maturity. 30% new oak, even after sorting they are at 39hl/h yield here on these clay-limestone soils. Touch of chaptilsation and saignée, showing that even with waiting til October to harvest these things were needed.” 92/100 – Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com

“The 2024 L'If is an elegant, sleek wine. Crushed flowers, tobacco, cedar, incense, dried herbs and menthol give the 2024 lovely aromatic presence. L'If is light on its feet, with a bit less overt concentration than most years, but there's more than enough persistence to compensate for that, shaping the wine in a style that favors linear energy over volume. Harvest took place between October 4-6 for the Merlots and October 8 for Franc, a much more condensed period between two rains. Aging is in French oak, 50% new. Tasted two times. 2030 – 2046” 92-94/100 – Antonio Galloni, vinous.com