Château Canon 2022

Château Canon is a property that has experienced a meteoric rise in quality.  The most recent vintage, the 2020, has been ranked as having 100 point potential.  The demand is off the charts for this wine, and many critics consider the grand vin from Château Canon to be the Right Bank wine of the vintage.  Since this estate was acquired by the Wertheimer family who made their fortunes as the owners of the famous luxury goods manufacturer, Chanel, the wine from this Saint-Émilion Premiere Grand Crus Classés Class B property has never been better.  Of all the producers on the Right Bank, Château Canon is definitely one of the ones to watch.

Château Canon has a very interesting history indeed.  The estate was initially a part of the Clos St. Martin vineyard in the 1700s.  Just 60 years later the estate was acquired by Jacques Kanon, a pirate who made his fortune plundering the high seas.  Jaques Kanon expanded the vineyard and ordered construction of the original château to be completed in 1767.  The property was then sold to Raymond Fontemoing, a Bordeaux négociant after being owned by Jaques Kanon for a decade.  The Fontemoing family owned a property in Fronsac named Château Canon, and they named the estate Château Canon in an effort to expand their brand presence. The estate changed hands multiple times until it was acquired by the Wertheimer family.  The Wertheimer family is no stranger to the wine industry, and it is an empirical fact that they have the magic touch. After acquiring Château Berliquet in Saint-Émilion, they turned that property into a rising star.  The Wertheimer family are also owners of the esteemed Second Growth Château, Rauzan Ségla, a property now considered to have, "Super Second," status.  After acquiring Château Canon,  they were willing to spare no expense in renovating the property, and they had their work cut out for them.

The vineyards were disease-ridden, and the limestone quarries and tunnels were very much on the brink of collapse.  In 2012 the estate had a very extensive renovation which was finished in 2015.  The team hired Nicolas Audebert of Cheval des Andes to oversee operations and he made the intelligent hiring decision to bring on Thomas Duclos as a consultant.  Since then, the 34-hectare property has had a dramatic rise in quality.  The limestone terroir is planted with a mixture of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Château Canon has excellent neighbors, with views of esteemed estates like Château Quintus and Château Angelus.  The majority of the vines are 30 years old, though there are some vines that date to the end of the 1930s. 

The wine of Château Canon is vinified in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. It is then aged in French oak barrels for 18 months.  Château Canon is a formidable expression of Right Bank terroir.  For those who love the mineral-laced wines of Saint-Émilion and their ripe flavors of dark berries – Château Canon is a very worthy purchase.  Yet with all that in mind, the wine demands time to age and reveal its subtle intricacies.  For those who are willing to wait, they will be rewarded with a truly stunning wine.

"Ripe black cherries, graphite, crushed stone, and a beautiful floral character all define the 2022 Château Canon, another brilliantly pure and seamless wine from this team. Based on 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, it was raised in 50% new French oak, with a small percentage in foudre. Medium to full-bodied, it’s focused and precise on the palate, with ripe, polished tannins, integrated acidity, and a gorgeous finish. The elegance and purity here are truly striking, and it brings that rare mix of power and elegance. This sensational Saint-Émilion should evolve gracefully for three decades. In my view, it’s the finest Canon ever, surpassing the 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2020." - Jeb Dunnuck, (02/27/2025), Ratings: 100, Drink: 2025-2055

"The 2022 Canon has turned out brilliantly in bottle. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet raspberries, wild berries and cherries mingled with hints of violets, pencil shavings, black truffle and rose petals, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a dense, enveloping core of fruit underpinned by a chassis of sweet, suave tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. This is one of the most muscular, broad-shouldered vintages of Canon in recent years, but it retains every bit of its limestone-driven identity. As I wrote two years ago, this is an estate that is delivering its greatest run of vintages since the superb Post War series that preceded the frosts of 1956, and the 2022 is indeed reminiscent of a modern day version of one of those great years." - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate, (03/07/2025), Ratings: 100 

"The 2022 Canon is a regal wine of total sophistication and class—aromatic, light on its feet and super-expressive. Crushed flowers, chalk, mint, dried herbs, incense and blood orange all race across the palate. Clean saline-inflected notes extend the mid-palate and finish effortlessly. Even with all of the heat and drought of the year, Canon retains its essential, highly refined personality." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, (01/28/2025), Ratings: 99

"Well structured, an exceptional wine, and one that will age without a worry. Great depth to the creamy black, blue and red fruits, enjoyable sage and white pepper spice, touches of lemongrass and mandarin peel, plenty of concentration, has signature and complexity, with an ocean spray salinity on the finish. 45hl/h yield after careful vineyard work to protect the grapes from the heat, aged in 50% new oak, including four large oak casks, in organic conversion." - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, (03/07/2025), Ratings: 98

"A superb Canon in 2022. Supple, shiny, oh so charming, gorgeously sleek and well textured like pure silk but with density to the tannins that grips and coats the mouth, plus you know there's such power and concentration underneath in the waves of liquorice, stones, blackcurrant fruit. Extremely polished and charming. Vibrant, energetic, tense, and straight. It's not plush, more direct, but this wine thrills. Seamless and effortless, bright and energetic but with such a calm control and confidence. A stunning wine more for what it doesn't say than what it does in 2022. A yield of 45hl/ha. pH 3.5. 18 months ageing with 50% new oak. Harvest 30 August - 22 September." - Georgina Hindle, Decanter, (05/25/2023), Ratings: 98