Chateau Canon Saint Emilion 2019 – 750ml Not specified

98pts Decanter

Sleek, elegant and appealing even before you get your nose near the glass. Aromatically it is deep and rich, and then it revs up and takes off. Dense, compact and intense, zingy limestone vibrancy and grip. Winemakers say they are looking for balance all the time, but here you feel it, with tiny pulses of electricity that appear from beginning to end of the palate. Salinity on the finish with gunsmoke and extremely more-ish blueberry and blackberry fruit, with a creamy texture as things open up. 50% new oak.

98pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2019 Château Canon is another brilliant wine from this talented team that delivers everything you could want from this incredible terroir located on the upper limestone plateau. Based on 74% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc, it has a pure, incredibly refined, yet still powerful profile that takes time to unwind. Offering up beautiful notes of black raspberries, wild strawberries, spring flowers, chalky minerality, and graphite, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a finish that’s something to behold. This isn’t the massive style of the 2015 and reminds me slightly of the 2016. It’s perfectly balanced and, again, the purity and finesse are off the charts. It needs to be forgotten for 4-5 years and enjoyed over the following 2-3 decades. Hats off to Nicolas Audebert for another sensational wine. Best after 2026.

98pts Vinous

The 2019 Canon is creamy and layered. A wine of immense charm and sensuality, the 2019 is immediately appealing today, but also clearly has the potential to age for many decades. The 2019 is not as exuberant as most recent vintages, and yet its balance is simply magnificent. Readers can expect an aristocratic Saint-Emilion that is holding so much in reserve. Patience is key. Tasted three times.

97pts James Suckling

Blackberries, blueberries and dark chocolate with bark, mushrooms and chalk. Lavender, too. Full-bodied with firm tannins that are polished and velvety. White pepper, gesso and crushed stone. It’s full-bodied and layered with tightness and focus and a long finish. It’s solid and stalwart, as usual.

97pts Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

The 2019 Canon has turned out brilliantly in bottle, wafting from the glass with complex aromas of raspberries and red plums mingled with notions of raw cocoa, dark chocolate, pencil shavings and rose petals. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and multidimensional, it’s one of the most refined, elegant right bank wines of the vintage, with a deep core of fruit, beautifully refined tannins, lively acids and a long, perfumed finish. This is a superb achievement for Nicolas Audebert and his team.

95pts Wine Spectator

Violet, cassis, plum purée and blackberry reduction notes are layered together without being compacted, giving each space to breath and unfurl while letting the fine lacy thread of chalky minerality to flow in between. This shows the heat and slight grain of this distinctive vintage, but manages those aspects better than most. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best After 2025.

17.5/20pts Jancis Robinson

Refined, perfumed nose. Vibrant, juicy fruit with fine texture and tannins. Palate-cleansing finish. Total harmony. Another strong effort from this estate. 

Winemaker Notes

Barely opened, it escapes from the bottle like a sweet summer scent… Ripe and expressive, bursting with life, the wine plunges into the glass in which bright notes of red fruit, lush strawberries and raspberries, spin around each other. A few more swirls of the glass and the fruit intensifies even further, allowing aromas of morello cherry burst forth. There is this constant sensation of sapidity, so smooth and tasty. The wine palpitates. Intense and sappy, throughout the tasting it preserves this juicy character which is characteristic of the vintage. It speaks to us of the mastery achieved in a year that was nevertheless hot and dry. It brings movement over the palate and invigorates the body. This is a generous yet precise Canon, which combines consistency with fluidity.

Blend: 74% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc

The Barrel Sample for this wine is above 14% ABV.