(TWI 98-100 points) A blend of 71% Merlot and 29% Cabernet Franc, the 2023 Canon has a pH of 3.42 and it will age in barriques for 16-18 months, of which 50% are new. It is deep garnet-purple in color and sails out of the glass with bold notions of juicy blueberries, fresh plums, and Bing cherries, giving way to hints of black pepper, fragrant soil, and violets. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with energetic black and blue fruits, framed by super-satiny tannins and compelling tension, finishing long and fragrant. Absolutely ethereal! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

This may be one of the wines of the vintage, with brightness and ethereal character that give it an almost magical presence. Aromas of violets, lavender and blackberries with transparency and vividness. It’s medium-bodied with elegance and presence that give endless length. A benchmark. The tannins and acidity caress every millimetter of your palate. 71% merlot and 29% cabernet franc. Try after 2030, but already a joy to taste.

(JL 97-99 points) Violets, roses, and lilacs kick off the floral display. You also find cherries, plums, black raspberries, cigar box, and spice, with a touch of licorice. There is a balance between the vivacity, and sweetness, a strong sense of crushed rocks, and stones, depth, and intensity. The finish is racy, in all the best ways, which is the perfect backdrop for the wine’s layers of salt-tinged fruits that linger. The best part of the wine is that the fruit expresses a beautiful sense of purity, with no hard . edges. The wine blends 71% Merlot with 29% Cabernet Franc. 14% ABV. 3.41. Harvesting took place September 6 – October 4. The length of the harvest is one of the key points to the vintage, as the estate was able to stop, start, and wait for phenolic ripeness. Drink from 2030- 2060.

Another excellent wine from the team at Canon benefitting from its position on the limestone plateau. Deep florals, violets, black fruits, some purple fruits too with cocoa powder and cool fresh blueberries. Smooth and so refined, this has a comfort in the mouth that few others have - a certain weight that defies the vintage - almost fleshy but more thick juice rather than lean, with a sweet core as well as biting acidity that provides a great contrast. This is a serious wine, it has structure and movement, supple tannins, so fine with a touch of chalk, strawberry, cranberry and red cherry fruit with liquorice spice on the finish. Assured winemaking, ripe fruit, great acidity and body, ending clean and pure with wet stones and graphite touches. Just delicious, a wine that tastes great now and feels like it’ll always be that way. Expansive in the best way. Ageing 16-18 months in 50% new oak as well as foudre. 3.42pH.

(WA 96-98 points) Wafting from the glass with aromas of mulberries and raspberries mingled with spices, rose petals, licorice and violets, the 2023 Canon is another brilliant wine from a property whose excellence can almost be taken for granted. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's seamless and concentrated, its vibrant core of fruit framed by sweet, powdery tannins and girdled by lively acids, concluding with a long, mineral finish. - William Kelley

Finesse and saline limestone character on full display, spiced plum, textural as ever, with finely boned architecture, in the line of great Canon vintages, with density to the black fruits and the mouthwateringly precise tannic grip and oyster shell salinity. 50% new oak for ageing, harvest September 6 through to October 4 (with Merlot going right through until the end, unlike many places, here they really waited). 45hl/ha yield, in organic conversion. Tasted twice.

(JD 94-96 points) The 2023 Château Canon is an ultra-classic wine from this terroir offering textbook limestone-driven, black raspberry, floral, chalky, and spicy aromas and flavors. As always, it's not massive and is more medium-bodied, with a balanced, elegant mouthfeel, ripe, polished tannins, and no hard edges. It actually reminds me a little of the 2001 from this estate. It's a gorgeous wine that will evolve for 25+ years, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it drink nicely in its youth as well. Tasted multiple times.

The 2023 Canon takes time to open on the nose but reveals attractive red berry fruit, pressed flowers (violet) and a very light marine influence. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins. A little spicier than I recall from barrel, with hints of cinnamon and sage, you can feel the tongue tingling after the wine has exited thanks to a pinch of cracked black pepper. Though the 2023 does not quite touch recent peaks, I appreciate the linearity of this Canon and it should age well in bottle. - By Neal Martin on February 2026