What a gorgeous nose, with sweet and delicate fruits such as sliced plums that turn to milk chocolate and flowers. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, long finish. You want to drink this right away. 75 percent Merlot and 25 percent Cabernet Franc
Wine SpectatorScore: 95-98/100
Aromas of nuts, spices, chocolate powder, then changes to fruits and flowers. Fascinating. Full body, with silky tannins and a wonderful intensity and super polished tannins with a long, long finish. Super refined. Best Canon in years. Try in 2016. James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
James SucklingScore: 96/100
The finest Canon since the 1982, the 2009 (75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc) reveals a dense blue/purple color along with a classic nose of chalk dust, blueberries, black raspberries, black currants and a touch of wood smoke. Medium to full-bodied, elegant and loaded with an inner framework of minerality and moderately high tannins, this backward, but stylish, concentrated Canon will benefit from 7-8 years of cellaring and last for three decades. Wine Advocate.February, 2012
Robert ParkerScore: 94/100
Tasted at the château and the UGC, the Canon ’09 is a blend of 75% Merlot (picked 23rd to 28th September) and 25% Cabernet Franc (picked 2nd until 5th October) cropped at 35hl/ha and matured in 60% new oak, the crop reduced by 20% due to the hail. Delivering 14.5% alcohol and a pH3.7. The nose is fresh and lively, well defined with blackberry, briary, cedar, a touch of vanilla and an almost sorbet-like freshness. The palate is full-bodied with fine tannins, a powerful Canon, very well defined, a slight chalkiness coming towards the finish, a sharpness that lends freshness and vitality. A more masculine, structured Canon than I was expecting, but it will soften by the time of bottling. Excellent. Tasted March 2010.
Neal MartinScore: 92-94/100
A little paler than some. Lightish cherry red. Glossy, gamey, almost animal nose. Rich and sweet but with a certain dryness on the finish. There is some real life here. Very glamorous. Sumptuous and flattering, very polished, racy and sinewy and like a racehorse. Good enterprising energetic stuff!
Jancis Robinson MWScore: 17.5/20
Bordeaux / France