Croix Canon (2nd wine of Canon) 2019

From sandy soils on the plain, below Berliquet and next to Jonathan Maltus' new winery, the 2019 Croix Canon offers up aromas of raspberries, plums, loamy soil and raw cocoa. Medium to full-bodied, ample and charming, with melting tannins and succulent acids, it's already drinking well. In the last few years, this sleeping giant has well and truly reawakened, and the 2019 seems to me the finest Canon that Nicolas Audebert and his team have yet produced. Extensive replanting between 1996 and 2003, overseen by Audebert's predecessor, John Kolasa, saw some 50% of the estate's 22 hectares replaced. The fact that these vines are now arriving at full maturity surely goes some way to accounting for Canon's contemporary renaissance. Now, the team is working on restructuring the rest, combining massal selections and clones. Viticulture is thoughtful, with cover crops across the estate, and the terroir itself is relatively homogeneous: solid limestone covered by some 0.25-0.7 meters of clay, with a more or less uniform exposition on Saint-Émilion's plateau. There's also one small parcel in the town itself and another by Berliquet. Today, the vineyard is planted with about 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, and there are no plans to radically alter that. Winemaking privileges finesse over power, though a certain richness and texture can be taken for granted with a site like this, and maturation is in 50% new oak (mostly from Taransaud, Emptos, Sylvain and Quintessence).

Score: 91

William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2021-2035 07 April 2022