Château Canon 2020

Château Canon is a property that has experienced a meteoric rise in quality.  The most recent vintage, the 2020, has been ranked as having 100 point potential.  The demand is off the charts for this wine, and many critics consider the grand vin from Château Canon to be the Right Bank wine of the vintage.  Since this estate was acquired by the Wertheimer family who made their fortunes as the owners of the famous luxury goods manufacturer, Chanel, the wine from this Saint-Émilion Premiere Grand Crus Classés Class B property has never been better.  Of all the producers on the Right Bank, Château Canon is definitely one of the ones to watch.

Château Canon has a very interesting history indeed.  The estate was initially a part of the Clos St. Martin vineyard in the 1700s.  Just 60 years later the estate was acquired by Jacques Kanon, a pirate who made his fortune plundering the high seas.  Jaques Kanon expanded the vineyard and ordered construction of the original château to be completed in 1767.  The property was then sold to Raymond Fontemoing, a Bordeaux négociant after being owned by Jaques Kanon for a decade.  The Fontemoing family owned a property in Fronsac named Château Canon, and they named the estate Château Canon in an effort to expand their brand presence. The estate changed hands multiple times until it was acquired by the Wertheimer family.  The Wertheimer family is no stranger to the wine industry, and it is an empirical fact that they have the magic touch. After acquiring Château Berliquet in Saint-Émilion, they turned that property into a rising star.  The Wertheimer family are also owners of the esteemed Second Growth Château, Rauzan Ségla, a property now considered to have, "Super Second," status.  After acquiring Château Canon,  they were willing to spare no expense in renovating the property, and they had their work cut out for them.

The vineyards were disease-ridden, and the limestone quarries and tunnels were very much on the brink of collapse.  In 2012 the estate had a very extensive renovation which was finished in 2015.  The team hired Nicolas Audebert of Cheval des Andes to oversee operations and he made the intelligent hiring decision to bring on Thomas Duclos as a consultant.  Since then, the 34-hectare property has had a dramatic rise in quality.  The limestone terroir is planted with a mixture of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Château Canon has excellent neighbors, with views of esteemed estates like Château Quintus and Château Angelus.  The majority of the vines are 30 years old, though there are some vines that date to the end of the 1930s. 

The wine of Château Canon is vinified in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. It is then aged in French oak barrels for 18 months.  Château Canon is a formidable expression of Right Bank terroir.  For those who love the mineral-laced wines of Saint-Émilion and their ripe flavors of dark berries – Château Canon is a very worthy purchase.  Yet with all that in mind, the wine demands time to age and reveal its subtle intricacies.  For those who are willing to wait, they will be rewarded with a truly stunning wine.

"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 moreish blueberry and blackberry fruit, with a creamy texture as things open up. 50% new oak. Thomas Duclos consults." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate (5/20/2021) Ratings: 98-100, Drink: 2027-2062

"This is intense, structured and concentrated yet with an abundance of violet and peony notes that curl up through the tannins, combining halfway through the palate with blueberry, raspberry, tobacco, gunsmoke and sculpted, precise pulses of chalk minerality. There is just so much to talk about with this wine, but the overall impression is of dozens of carefully crafted elements that steal up on you. It's hard not to be convinced by its success - and as ever with Canon you are in no doubt as to how well it will age. Gorgeous. 50% new barrels. 3.53pH. Harvest 4 September to 23 September. 50% new oak. A yield of 40hl/ha. Could go up after tasting in bottle, a potential 100 points." - Jane Anson, Decanter (April 2021), Ratings: 98-100, Drink: 2027-2050

"The 2020 Canon nailed it this year, the best since the benchmark 2015/2016 vintages. It has one of those bouquets that stops the clock thanks to its breathtaking delineation and focus, fragrant black cherries, bilberry, shucked oyster shell and crushed rock aromas. It is cool, calm and collected. The palate possesses exquisite definition, armed with simply crystalline red fruit matched with a perfect silver bead of acidity. There is tangible tension from the start and it fans out gloriously toward the pixelated finish. This brilliant Canon should offer 20–30 years of drinking pleasure, probably more. Chapeau!" - Neal Martin, Vinous (May 2021), Ratings: 96-98, Drink: 2028-2045

"The 2020 Château Canon is another brilliant wine in a long line of brilliant wines from this incredible team and consistent estate. Coming from the upper plateau (unquestionably one of the finest terroirs on the upper plateau) and 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc, it offers a perfumed, ethereal nose of red and blue fruits, violets, white flowers, and unsmoked tobacco. With riveting purity, full-bodied richness, flawless balance, and a great, great finish, it’s going to push the upper limits of my scale. The tannins here are incredible as well, and this beauty should drink well for 20-30 years. Hats off to technical director Nicolas Audebert and his team for another insanely good wine." - Jeb Dunnuck, (5/23/2021), Ratings: 96-98