2022 Chateau Canon, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France (750ml)

WINEMAKER'S NOTES: 

Blend: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc

TASTING NOTES: 

The 2022 Canon has turned out brilliantly in bottle. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet raspberries, wild berries and cherries mingled with hints of violets, pencil shavings, black truffle and rose petals, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a dense, enveloping core of fruit underpinned by a chassis of sweet, suave tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. This is one of the most muscular, broad-shouldered vintages of Canon in recent years, but it retains every bit of its limestone-driven identity.

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 pts. 

Ripe black cherries, graphite, crushed stone, and a beautiful floral character all define the 2022 Château Canon, another brilliantly pure and seamless wine from this team. Based on 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, it was raised in 50% new French oak, with a small percentage in foudre. Medium to full-bodied, it’s focused and precise on the palate, with ripe, polished tannins, integrated acidity, and a gorgeous finish. The elegance and purity here are truly striking, and it brings that rare mix of power and elegance.

- Jeb Dunnuck, 100 pts. 

Fascinating dark aromas such as cherries and currants as well as Spanish cedar. Umami. Some dried flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, this has juicy and savory fruit such as intense berries with sandalwood and dried-mushroom undertones. Lots going on here. Very muscular for Canon but well-formed and beautiful. Minerally and salty at the end. 75% merlot and 25% cabernet franc.

- James Suckling, 99 pts. 

The 2022 Canon is a regal wine of total sophistication and class - aromatic, light on its feet and super-expressive. Crushed flowers, chalk, mint, dried herbs, incense and blood orange all race across the palate. Clean saline-inflected notes extend the mid-palate and finish effortlessly. Even with all of the heat and drought of the year, Canon retails its essential, highly refined personality.

- Vinous, 99 pts. 

A superb Canon in 2022. Supple, shiny, oh so charming, gorgeously sleek and well textured like pure silk but with density to the tannins that grips and coats the mouth, plus you know there's such power and concentration underneath in the waves of liquorice, stones, blackcurrant fruit. Extremely polished and charming. Vibrant, energetic, tense, and straight. It's not plush, more direct, but this wine thrills. Seamless and effortless, bright and energetic but with such a calm control and confidence. A stunning wine more for what it doesn't say than what it does in 2022.
Barrel Sample: 98

- Decanter, 98 pts. 

This offers some fairly compelling fruit, with raspberry and red currant puree flavors that stream through with focus and precision, backed by red tea, hibiscus, violet and savory notes. The long, pinpoint finish is very refined, as minimal toast lets the fruit just cruise. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2040.

- Wine Spectator, 96 pts.