CHÂTEAU D'ISSAN

2012 3ème Cru Classé Margaux

Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Sub-district Haut Médoc
Village Margaux
Classification 3ème Cru Classé
ABV 13.2%

Nicely scented nose, floral and cedary spice. Then on the palate there is lovely ripe, dark cherry fruit, super-poise. This is rich but not thick, just a lovely texture and weight kept in check by spice and some earthy minerality. Rating: 89-91 L&S (Apr 2013)


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The 2012 d'Issan has a very perfumed and expressive bouquet with ebullient blackberry, iodine and cedar scents, very focused and classy with seamlessly integrated new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perfect acidity, compact at the moment but brimming over with mineralité and tension. This seems to have blossomed in bottle after a patchy showing in barrel and now it comes highly recommended. Tasted at the d’Issan vertical held at the property. Drinking range: 2020 - 2045 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2018)

A touch of herbaceousness and abundant underbrush characteristics kept my score from going higher. Nevertheless, the wine offers an attractive fragrance of herbs, blue and red fruits and loamy soil undertones. Medium-bodied with an angular mouthfeel, it should drink well for a decade or more. An elegant, restrained style of Margaux made from yields of 37 hectoliters per hectare, the 2012 d’Issan is composed of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot. Fifty-three percent of the production made it into the grand vin, which achieved 13.2% natural alcohol. 2013 - 2023 Rating: 87-89 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Apr 2013)

Rating: 90 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2013)

Château d'Issan

Margaux Troisième cru 1855 When Pierre l'Essenault inherited what became Château d'Issan through his marriage in the mid-17th Century, he knocked down the old castle that stood on the site and built the present château. He also gave it its name, these days somewhat abridged. During the 18th Century, part of the estate was divided away and became today's Château Palmer. In 1945, Château d'Issan was bought by Emmanuel Cruse who bought a run-down estate, ravaged by Depression and War with only 2ha of working vineyard. The vineyards now occupy 53ha, planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot. Wines typically spend 18 months in wood. In 2013 Jacky Lorenzetti, who owns Lilian Ladouys, bought 50% of d'Issan to become co-owner with the Cruse family. Château d'Issan is among the fullest and richest Margaux's, a facet which sometimes in the past has suggested a lack of charm. Indeed, the Cruse family's care and attention to d'Issan has taken many years to bear fruit, with the wines only returning to top-flight quality in the latter years of the 20th Century. They are now among the better wines in the appellation and well worth their 3rd Growth status. There is a second wine at Château d'Issan called Blason d'Issan. Château d'Issan also includes some vines which fall outside the Margaux appellation - Château de Candale, Haut-Médoc and Moulin d'Issan, Bordeaux Supérieur.

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