Canon - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2020

Vinous

98-98

par Neal Martin le 28/02/2025

The 2020 Canon is very succinct on the nose, beautifully defined with extraordinarily pure red fruit laced with pressed violet and iris flower. The oak is perfectly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, fresh and almost citric, very vibrant and precise with a quite peppery finish. God made wine so that it can taste as good as this. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Alexandre Ma

91

par Alexandre Ma le 18/04/2023

Wine Advocate

100

par William Kelley le 06/04/2023

The brilliant 2020 Canon looks set to surpass both the 2019 and 2016 as this estate's finest wine since the post-war period, though like many of the best 2020s, it will require more patience than its 2019 counterpart. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries and raspberries mingled with notions of exotic spices and iris, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with vibrant acids and beautifully polished, chalky tannins. Pure and precise, it concludes with a long, mouthwatering finish. This beautifully constructed wine communicates the essence of this superb limestone terroir, and it will be worth a special effort to track down and cellar.

Jeb DUNNUCK

97

par Jeb Dunnuck le 30/03/2023

Another brilliant Saint-Emilion, the 2020 Château Canon actually reminds me of the 2019 with its pure, elegant, yet concentrated profile. Based on 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc, it reveals a deep ruby hue as well as classic upper plateau notes of perfumed red and black fruits (black raspberries, darker cherries), wildflowers, graphite, and chalky minerality. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a seamless, elegant mouthfeel, perfectly integrated tannins and acidity, and flawless overall balance. As with the 2019, it's not the blockbuster style of the 2015, but it’s lively, elegant, and pure class. It needs 7-8 years of bottle age to hit maturity and will have 2-3 decades of overall longevity.

The Wine Cellar Insider

98

par Jeff Leve le 22/03/2023

A stunning textural experience with its silky, velvet drenched profiled. Aromatically, you find flowers, black, red and blue fruits, licorice, and crushed rocks in the perfume. On the palate, the wine is all about its polished silk profile, which is the perfect backdrop for all of its layers of sensuous fruits, freshness and purity, finishing with a touch of salt on the backend. The seamless finish delivers length going on for over 50 seconds. Drink from 2025-2060.

Alexandre Ma

91

par Alexandre Ma le 15/03/2023

Wines Critic

99

par Raffaele Vecchione le 10/03/2023

Elegance and sensory precision reveal themselves in the glass with deep, tasty notes of lavender, hibiscus, wild violet, hyacinth, citronella and catmint. Full bodied, very fine grained tannins and an engaging final which is immediately exciting. Linear, tasty, full and captivating. Practically infinite on the palate, an expression which truly leaves it's mark on this Bordeaux 2020. Poetry in the glass, showing off the Saint-Emilion vintage in true style. A blend of 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc. Better from 2027.

Vinous

100

par Antonio Galloni le 24/02/2023

The 2020 Canon is a wine of mind-blowing purity and nuance. It has been nothing less than thrilling on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. Intensely saline and chalky, the 2020 possesses spellbinding finesse and nuance. Red-toned fruit, crushed rocks, white pepper, rose petal and mint all come alive in the glass, buttressed by clean saline notes that extend the mid-palate into the finish. There is simply nothing like great Canon. And the 2020 is unquestionably a great Canon.

Vinous

97

par Neal Martin le 15/02/2023

The 2020 Canon, bottled in May 2022, has an exquisite bouquet that stops you in your tracks. Breathtaking delineation and focus, taut and linear, yet with ample fruit, this unabashedly exudes its propitious terroir. The palate is delectably creamy on the entry with fine salinity, vibrant and tensile, with a very persistent finish. This Canon ranks amongst the finest overseen by the team in recent years. Chapeau. Tasted twice with consistent notes.

Jamessuckling.com

98

par James Suckling le 16/01/2023

Black cherries, fresh herbs, lemon rind, and violets on the nose. Crushed stone, too. Medium to full body with super fine tannins that run the length of the wine. It goes on for minutes. A great wine. Try after 2027, but already thoroughly gorgeous. A classical Canon.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

100

par Jane Anson le 01/12/2022

Stunning, grab-a-friend, insanely good wine. The structure and tannic grip manage to be both barely there and tightly controlling, giving form and space for the raspberry, blueberry and pomegrante fruits to crowd in the palate, followed by oyster shell salinity, pummice stone scrape and electic points of mandarin peel and lemon grass. Finished with pure no messing about juiciness. 50% new barrels, 3.53ph. Harvest 4 September to 23 September. 50% new oak, 40hl/ha yield. Thomas Duclos consultant, Nicolas Audebert director.

Vinous

95-97

par Antonio Galloni le 01/06/2021

The 2020 Canon is a gorgeous, sophisticated wine. Silky and soaring, Canon is vertical in build, with a real sense of explosive energy that give the wine its shape. Rose petal, lavender, mint, spice and ripe red/purplish berry fruit all meld together effortlessly. The 2020 is an especially airy, understated Canon. I can't wait to see how it ages.

Jeb DUNNUCK

96-98

par Jeb Dunnuck le 28/05/2021

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.

Yvesbeck.wine

98-100

par Yves Beck le 27/05/2021

68% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc
Quel superbe bouquet, quelle exceptionnelle notion de délicatesse et d'équilibre où subtilité et
puissance se soutiennent mutuellement ; chacun rend service à l'autre ! Nuances de pain d'épices, de cassis et de griottes. En bouche le vin confirme les dispositions du bouquet. Que de finesse, de grandeur, d'ampleur et d'harmonie. Les tannins sont impériaux, gracieux et se révèlent le long du palais. Ils sont d'une rare puissance et, pourtant, ils ne sont pas envahissants, ils sont juste
terriblement convaincants. Leur grain est très fin et leur substance créent une extraordinaire
symbiose avec la tension de la structure acide. Un très grand vin qui sait créer l'émotion et qui incarne brillamment la notion de force tranquille. 2028-2050 98-100/100

Vinous

96-98

par Neal Martin le 27/05/2021

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!

Decanter.com

99

par Jane Anson le 25/05/2021

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. 98-100.

The Wine Cellar Insider

98-100

par Jeff Leve le 21/05/2021

Aromatically, this is off the hook with flowers, black, red and blue fruits, licorice, black raspberry, forest leaf, wild cherries and crushed rocks. With polished silk and velvet textures, the wine balances weight, depth, energy and concentration. The layers of perfectly ripe, sweet, fresh, red and black fruits keep on coming. On the palate the wine is both concentrated and weightless, making this is far too easy to drink. The seamless finish delivers length and purity that goes on for more than 60 seconds. This is as good as the famous 2015, and by the time it is in bottle, it could be even better. The wine blends 68% Merlot with 32% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% ABV pH 3.53 98-100

Wine Advocate

98-100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 20/05/2021

The 2020 Canon is a blend of 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc, aging for 18 months in French oak, 50% new. It weighs in with 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.53. Deep garnet-purple colored, it bursts from the glass with vivacious notes of Morello cherries, redcurrant jelly, wild blueberries and black raspberries, plus hints of powdered cinnamon, clove oil, star anise and dusty red soil. The medium to full-bodied palate is an exercise in grace, delivering exquisitely ripe, finely pixilated tannins and bold freshness to support the tight-knit black, red and blue fruit layers, finishing long with loads of exotic spices and mineral sparks. An exhilarating triumph!

Jamessuckling.com

98-99

par James Suckling le 12/05/2021

Wow. This is really exceptional with super density of fruit that remains clear and agile. Blackberries, currants, violets and spice, as well as some chalk and salt. It really goes on for minutes. Best of the trilogy?

Anthocyanes

98-100

par Yohan Castaing le 11/05/2021

Avec un nez magnifique de fruits noirs, d'épices et surtout de rose anglaise et de fleurs de printemps, Ch. Canon conforte son rang de "grand" de Saint-Émilion. Cette année il exprime différemment son emprise calcaire par une texture un peu plus charnue. Les tanins sont magnifiques, l'ensemble est cristallin, la puissance parfaitement contenue. Du pur satin et très aérien ! Bravo ! Un summum de qualité. Un vin qu'il faudra attendre encore très longtemps même si ses jeunes années pourraient être particulièrement savoureuses.

Bernard Burtschy

95-97

par Bernard Burtschy le 10/05/2021

Falstaff

94-96

par Peter Moser le 10/05/2021

Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, breitere Randaufhellung. Rote Waldbeeren, ein Hauch von Lakritze, feine tabakige Nuancen, zart nach Mandarinenzesten, min- eralischer Touch. Saftig, rote Kirschen, zart salzig, integrierte reife Tannine, eng- maschig-zitronige Nuancen, wirkt ungemein leichtfüßig, gutes Reifepotenzial, ein finessenreicher Speisenbegleiter.

My Bettane + Desseauve

97-98

par Bettane & Desseauve le 07/05/2021