Château Canon 2023

This is so elegant and sophisticated already, with a really electric presence and length that goes on and on. It's medium- to full-bodied with an intensity of tannins. It remains weightless and energetic. The pH is 3.41, making this a vivid and lively wine. Currant, orange and stone. Sea salt, too. The limestone soils created a unique wine here in 2023. A blend of 71% merlot and 29% cabernet franc.

70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc Canon éveille d’entrée le goût à l’harmonie, au plaisir du vin dans un contexte de subtilité, d’authenticité, avec cette manière de rappeler que même magnifié par nos mots et nos papilles, l’on a, avant tout, simplement à faire à un vin qui ne demande qu’à être savouré ! Le bouquet de Canon se positionne de manière délicate, mais décidée, avec une précision filigrane et aboutie. L’entrée en matière impressionne dans sa logique soyeuse, élégante, vineuse. Le vin a du caractère, du charme, de l’ampleur et une aptitude à révéler moult détails dans un contexte d’ampleur. Un vin pertinent, précis, du bouquet jusqu’à la finale. Quand l’excellence peut se profiler avec humilité, on se met à rêver d’un havre de paix où seul le plaisir est maître à bord ! 2028-2053

Couleur sombre, pourpre et vive. Nez intense, fin, pur, fruité, subtil et noble. Minutieux en entrée de bouche, puis de suite délicatement gras, avec de la classe dans le toucher et un fond de saveurs complexes, tout à la fois minutieux, distingué et profond, le vin file lentement en finale, constant dans son déroulé, pur et noble. C'est superbe. C'est Canon ! Assemblage : 71 % merlot, 29 % cabernet franc. Degré d'alcool : 14° - pH : 3,41. Vin de presse : 8 %. Rendement : 45 hl/ha. Elevage en 50 % bois neuf dont 3 foudres.

Wafting from the glass with aromas of mulberries and raspberries mingled with spices, rose petals, licorice and violets, the 2023 Canon is another brilliant wine from a property whose excellence can almost be taken for granted. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's seamless and concentrated, its vibrant core of fruit framed by sweet, powdery tannins and girdled by lively acids, concluding with a long, mineral finish. As I've written before, Château Canon was once something of a sleeping giant, but today it has well and truly reawakened. Extensive replanting between 1996 and 2003, overseen by Nicolas Audebert's predecessor, John Kolasa, saw some 50% of the estate's 22 hectares replaced. The fact that these vines are now arriving at full maturity surely goes some way to accounting for Canon's contemporary renaissance. Now, the team is working on restructuring the rest, combining massal selections and clones. Viticulture is thoughtful, with cover crops across the estate, and the terroir itself is relatively homogeneous: solid limestone covered by some 0.25 to 0.7 meters of clay, with a more or less uniform exposition on Saint-Émilion's plateau. There's also one small parcel in the town itself and another by Berliquet. Today, the vineyard is planted with about 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, and there are no plans to radically alter that. Winemaking privileges finesse over power, though a certain richness and texture can be taken for granted with a site like this, and maturation is in 50% new oak (mostly from Taransaud, Demptos, Sylvain and Quintessence). Today, the focus is on increasing precision and refinement, rather than revolution. And well it might be, for why change a winning team?