Château Canon 2018 - Top Pick

This is a dense and focused Canon with beautiful blackberry, almond and hazelnut character. Vivid and lifted. It’s compact and complete with tannins that melt into the center palate and then build at the end. Full-bodied yet reserved and driven. A superb and focused wine. Classy all the way. New 1955?

Deep purple with bright rim. Lovely Cabernet Franc fragrance of stony/mineral pure black fruit, both restrained in character and yet aromatic. Juicy and fresh on the palate, full of energy and great finesse in the tannins. Dark, refined beauty with a tiny hint of dark chocolate on the finish. Great persistence and cool subtlety. So fresh and juicy, pure and precise. Lightly chalky tannins on the finish, no sign of the alcohol and the tannins have an underlying power. 'Les tannins reactifs', as technical director Nicolas Audebert calls them (I didn't know what he meant either), give a mouth-watering finish. Silky freshness and elegance.
Drink 2025-2038

Features a gorgeous core of plum and black currant fruit, deeply inlaid with tobacco notes and chalky minerality. Everything melds wonderfully through the finish, which is refined in feel.

A very detailed Canon with super-ripe fruit but also flashes of greenness and beautiful complexity, too. The oak is under control and the length is minutes long. Concentrated and also quite closed right now, this will open beautifully over 20-30 years and I expect it to gather pace as it goes.