The 2018 Croix Canon is a gorgeous second wine. Ample, creamy and inviting, the 2018 is going to be a real pleasure to drink when it is released. Dark blue/purplish berry fruit, spice, licorice and lavender notes are front and center in this generous, yet mid-weight Saint-Émilion. Although not especially complex, Croix Canon is a wine of pure and total pleasure. Croix Canon emerges from a collection of parcels with sandier soils than those used for the Grand Vin.

The 2018 Croix-Canon was taken directly from barrel rather than a preprepared sample. It is currently being raised in 30% new oak. Ripe and rounded black cherries and blueberry fruit on the nose, more floral than the 2017 with more lift. The palate is smooth and velvety on the entry, certainly a big wine for a Deuxième Vin with layers of black fruit laced with graphite and burnt toast on the finish, residues of black pepper on the aftertaste. Very fine.

Appetising and just the job for current drinking, though not for oak-phobes. (JR)