Canon 2019 (750ML)

Château Canon has been taking off over the past few years, and here you see why. Just so much complexity, depth, power, interest in the whole thing. This buzzes with life, rises above the palate, full of gunsmoke, truffle, raspberry, blueberry, so delicious. Needs time but already showing it will be worth the wait. 45hl/h, 3.5ph, Harvest September 11 to October 4, 50% new oak. Thomas Duclos consults. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Composed of 74% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Canon is deep garnet-purple in color. It offers up fragrant notes of mocha, violets, and licorice over a core of plum preserves and wild blueberries, plus a waft of Indian spices. The full-bodied palate is full-on gorgeous, delivering bright, energetic black and blue fruit layers with a lively backbone and super-fine, perfectly ripe tannins, finishing long, long, long.-Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

Fragranced and nuanced on the nose, full of ripe blackcurrants with a milk chocolate dusting and heady floral aspects that immediately draw you in. Serious in the glass, this is broad-shouldered but carried so well with the fine tannins and round fruit. It's dark in profile, full of blackcurrants, black cherries and plums with touches of dark chocolate, tobacco, coffee grounds, liquorice and clove all wrapped up and neatly presented with clarity and linearity. You can feel the tension on this, so flavourful but so knitted right now, coursing from the start to finish in a straight line but with waves of flavour of softly sweet fruit, medicinal herbs, savoury tones and minty cool elements on the finish. The flavours just go on and on expanding and filling the mouth with an undercurrent of mineral salinity that gives freshness and lifts the palate but also keeps everything straight and in line. Beautifully handled with such poise. Really captivating. Drinking Window 2028 - 2050 - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

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-Émilion that is holding so much in reserve. Patience is key. Tasted three times. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

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. - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2019 Canon has a fine, detailed nose of blackberry, raspberry, scorched earth and just a touch of crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with fine delineation, poised and focused, yet serious. This is a Canon with breeding, but it is more of a long-term prospect compared to the 2018. A second sample at the château showed a bit more depth on the saline finish, and based on that example, I think this will become an outstanding Saint-Émilion. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

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. Reminds me of the very special 1955. One for the cellar. Give this until 2026 to see what it really has. - James Suckling

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. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

Subtle, layered nose and much suaver tannins than in most of these wines. Much more impressive than the sample I tasted at Church House in October. Really very beautifully put together. Lovely clean finish is revitalising.-Jancis Robinson