Chateau Canon 2018

WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Wow, that's what I am talking about! Flowers and crushed rocks galore, with layers of sweet, perfectly ripe, cherries and plums that offers incredible purity. Elegant, silky and sexy, with a seamless finish gracefully coating your palate with endless layers of sensuously textured ripe fruits and cashmere tannins. This is effortless to drink. This will give the triple digit 2015 a run for the money when it matures. The wine blends 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc, 14% ABV."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Blackberries and tar with wet-earth and dark-bark aromas. Dark-chocolate and brownie notes, too. It’s full-bodied with creamy tannins and a round, caressing finish. Lovely focus and intensity, though dense and layered. Extremely creamy and polished. Really precise and bespoke. It already opens beautifully on the palate. Drink after 2025."

DECANTER: "A beautiful Canon that performs the 360-degree trick in your mouth of expanding up, down and out. Of course a little austere right now at this young age, but already walking the tightrope towards richness; the creaminess in the texture becomes clear after 20 minutes in the glass. This has salinity, purity, precision and grip, showing its distinct personality and its ability to draw juice and mouthwatering expression from the fruits. Drinking Window 2026 - 2048"

DUNNUCK: "The Grand Vin is the 2018 Château Canon, which is based on 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc brought up in 52% new French oak. Its incredible bouquet delivers richness paired with amazing freshness and precision, offering loads of crème de cassis and darker berry fruits intermixed with classic Saint-Emilion chalky minerality, graphite, scorched earth, and spring flowers. Gorgeous on the palate as well, with medium to full-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannins, flawless balance, and again, this wonderful sense of freshness paired with ample richness, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will evolve for 30+ years. The 2009 and 2015 are still my favorite vintages of this wine, but this is up there with the best of them."

WINEADVOCATE: "A blend of 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Canon has a pH of 3.69 and 14% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple in color, it tumbles effortlessly out of the glass with a gorgeous perfume of candied violets, preserved plums, black cherry compote and Ceylon tea with hints of kirsch, powdered cinnamon, chocolate box and fertile loam. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with juicy black fruit layers, supported by plush, oh-so-soft tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing long and fragrant."

WEINWISSER: "Purpur mit rubinrotem Rand. Was für eine Delikatesse mit vielschichtigem Bouquet nach reifen Schattenmorellen, Lakritze, dunkle Schokotrüffel und Zitronenthymiannote. Am sublimen Gaumen mit seidiger Textur, kakaoartiges Tannin, fein körniges Extrakt und eine magische Rasse – alles in perfekter Balance. Im aromatischen Finale ein Feuerwerk mit schwarzen Johannisbeeren, parfümiertem Pfeifentabak und edler Adstringenz. Hat die höhere Note zu Recht erlangt – Bravo!"

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Süße Kirschfrucht, ein Hauch von Erdbeeren, zart nach Feigen, Noten von Süßholz, floraler Anklang. Am Gaumen mineralisch und salin, zeigt eine tolle rote Beerenfrucht, etwas Lakritze, gibt sich saftig und extraktsüß, würzige und reife Tannine, etwas Nougat im Abgang, Kirschen im Nachhall, verfügt über sehr gute Länge und Reifepotenzial."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This estate owned by the Chanel luxury group continues its winning streak with this latest release. Dark and firm at this stage but with obviously powerful, rich black fruits, the wine is destined for a long aging. Tannins and structure pour through dense blackberry and damson flavors, leaving room for a succulent aftertaste. Drink from 2026."

WINESPECTATOR: "Ripe and focused, with a core of plum, black cherry and raspberry compote notes that are still a bit coiled up, though inlaid with a racy chalky spine and notes of black tea and tobacco that should all meld as it stretches out in the cellar. A restrained, refined, lengthy wine that drips with class. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2024 through 2038."

ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Quite pale; quite a simple colour. Tea-leaf aroma. Not that concentrated but nicely balanced. Very fresh – as though it’s trying to play that card! Canon? Lots on the finish."