Château Canon 2021

What a bouquet—highly complex, deep, smoky, cool, with floral notes over dark fruit, captivating; on the palate it’s soft and round, with a creamy texture and the finest tannins; it becomes more linear on the mid-palate, showing freshness and great precision, excellent tannin quality, magnificent length, and violets on the finish. One of the truly great wines of the vintage, without a doubt.

The 2021 Canon opens in the glass with a pure bouquet of raspberries, cherries and plums mingled with pretty top notes of iris, licorice, mint and sweet spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's fleshy and sensual, with a deep and seamless core of fruit framed by ultra-refined tannins, a bright spine of acidity and a long, mineral finish. With an impressively low finished pH of 3.37, it was taken out of barrel a month earlier than usual and saw no fining—as has been the case since 2010.

Fresh and open in feel, with loganberry and blackberry notes laced with mulling spice, black tea and savory hints. Concludes with a potpourri echo. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2035.

Gorgeous fragrance, pretty and pure. Juicy and clean, this has such a lovely energy and focus to it – lifted, bright but not searing, juicy but not too acidic, weighty but still streamlined and direct. I love the fine tannins, still with some tension, and a soft, salty liquorice outline. Feels elegant and finessed, polished and stylish with lift and movement.

Lots of crunchy red cherries and blue plums followed by violets, fresh sage and Christmas spices with baking spice and coconuts. Medium- to full-bodied with superb fine-grained, racy tannins and beautifully refreshing acidity that gives it an edge. Gorgeous finesse and elegance with harmony and precision. Delightful, too. Already drinkable, but give this a few more years to come around. Try after 2026, and it should be beautiful for a long time.

71% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc. Cask sample. Reserved for now. Floral notes as the wine opens. Texturally very elegant, with extremely polished, fine tannins. Compact, concise. Less wow this year, but clean and refreshing, with enough fruit for ageing. (JL)

The 2021 Canon has a clean and precise bouquet. Redcurrant, cranberry and wild strawberry scents gradually emerge, perhaps a little more tertiary than previous vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins—a strict Canon, quite saline with just a hint of licorice coming through toward the finish. Although it does not reach the imperial heights of other vintages in recent years, the 2021 is still a fine effort considering the challenging growing season.

Talk about on top of their game, even in the difficult 2021 vintage, Canon managed to produce one of the wines of the vintage! The perfume pops with little effort as you already find its bouquet of violets, spearmint, cigar wrappers, black cherries, plums, licorice and cocoa. And the palate is even better with its edgy freshness, sweet, red berries, plums and red plums, fresh cherries, herbs, and a touch of fennel along with salty accents in the elegant mid-palate and finish. The wine blends 71% Merlot with 29% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2026-2055.

Dark garnet, purple reflections, brightening toward the pastel rim. Fine red forest berry fruit, floral nuances, a hint of cranberry, noble wood influence, inviting fragrance. Juicy, freshly structured, fine tannins, finesse with lovely length; elegant fruit sweetness on the finish. A lively food companion, overall harmonious and very appetising.

Inky dark colour with a purple hue. Fragrant nose offering violet, wild berries, a hint of butterscotch and oak. Medium weight on the palate, youthful but fairly ripe tannins, high acidity, fresh red fruit flavours and a fine length.

A much more elegant, finesse-driven wine compared to Berliquet (which comes from the same team and a neighboring vineyard), the 2021 Château Canon shows a ruby/plum hue along with beautiful aromas of ripe red and black fruits, scorched earth, graphite, and sappy flowers. It’s nicely concentrated, with ripe, polished tannins and flawless overall balance, all while playing in the more mid-weight, elegant, focused style of the vintage. It will benefit from 2–4 years of bottle age but drink nicely through 2041. The blend is 71% Merlot and 29% Cabernet Franc, with one-third of the blend undergoing malolactic fermentation in barrel and the élevage lasting 16–18 months in 50% new French oak. It came in at 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.37. I was able to taste this on multiple occasions, always rating it between 93 and 95.

As expected, Canon is also, after bottling, one of the finest and most nuanced wines of the 2021 vintage from Saint-Émilion. Dark core of color, very viscous. It shows a delicate, fine nose with great underlying intensity. Very good attack on the palate with plenty of flesh and breed, very long, tightly knit and complex. Powerful Canon with lots of limestone terroir and tremendous finesse. As is typical for Canon, it still seems a bit closed at this youthful stage. Its freshness and great energy, however, bode well. 13.5% alc.

(71% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc, 40 hl/ha, 13.5% vol. alcohol, production 120,000 bottles) Silky, fragrant, fresh, elegant, Burgundian-style bouquet; raspberries, mint chocolates, wild strawberries, fine herbs. Densely woven, elegant, finely structured palate with powerful, fresh, fine fruit, delicately creamy texture, varied, sweet aromatics, and a very long, dense, fresh finish with plenty of lingering flavors. Can improve further. 18/20 2028 - 2055

Maintains estate signature, with raspberry, red cherry, charred sandalwood and clove, with saffron, sage and white pepper adding extra layers and nuance. Successful in the vintage, one to look out for. Don't expect it to have entirely escaped the fingerprint of 2021 though; this is delicate and finessed but austere, and will need a good four or five years in bottle to soften further. 50% new oak, 40 hl/ha yield, harvest September 16 to October 8. Thomas Duclos consultant.

The 2021 Canon is deep garnet-purple in color. After a little coaxing, expressive notes of kirsch, fresh blackberries, and juicy plums emerge confidently from the glass, followed by suggestions of licorice, sandalwood, and fragrant earth. The medium-bodied palate has tightly wound layers of bright, energetic black and red fruits, framed by firm, yet rounded, tannins and great tension, finishing with wonderful length and depth.

Canon (71% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc). Floral notes, graphite, and aromatic brilliance burst from the 2021. The silky texture, the elegance of the tannins, and the limestone-driven energy shaping the palate make it a perfectly digestible wine while respecting the identity of the cru.

A regal note of blue fruits, as elegant as the Snow Queen, with an aroma so airy it seems to float above the atmosphere. You also detect notes of black licorice, iris and violet. On the palate, it’s an intergalactic journey: the gentle kiss of the person who loves you most in the world carries you to the stars. Up there, weightless, the wine reveals savory, saline notes of iris and purple fruits, then mocha aromas on the finish, before gliding down to a long, simply delicious finale.

Canon 2021 takes its place with serenity and precision. It triggers many receptors closely tied to subtlety. The wine shines with its harmony, with that quiet strength that is both commanding and inviting. Power is present as well, but it works behind the scenes, in concert with the acid structure. A Canon that can certainly be approached in its youth, yet whose potential for ageing remains intact.

Dark, intense, purple color. Very aromatic, pure nose with ripe fruit. Soft on the attack, very fruity mid-palate, with lovely notes of fruit and flowers; the wine holds through the finish—flavorful, melting, long—with a fascinating tactile precision throughout. Blend: 71% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc. Alcohol: 13.5% – pH: 3.37. Yield: 40 hl/ha.

Kunz barrel sample 2022: (71% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc, 40 hl/ha, 13.5% alc./vol., production 120,000 bottles) Silky, fragrant, fresh, elegant, Burgundy-style bouquet; raspberries, mint pralines, wild strawberries, fine herbs. Densely woven, elegant, finely structured palate with powerful, fresh, precise fruit, delicately creamy texture, multifaceted, sweet-tinged aromatics, very long, dense, fresh finish with plenty of lingering flavors. Has room to improve.

95–97. Barrel Sample. Red and black fruits mingle with the firm structure of this dense wine. The tannins are solid while the ripe berry flavors show well against the wine's richness.