CHÂTEAU D'ISSAN
2015 3ème Cru Classé Margaux
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot. Very creamy smooth emulsion feel, good and ripe, with quite expressive high-toned red fruit as well as blacker depth. A creamy richness as well as real elegance - well done.L&S (Apr 2016)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2015 Château Issan has a potent bouquet with bold toasty black plum and gamey scents. There's possibly just a bit of Brettanomyces here. The palate is pure and medium-bodied with a pleasant fluidity, a keen bead of acidity and a tensile finish. This is modern in style and well made, yet I am certain this bottle was not showing at its peak. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. Rating: 90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
The 70th anniversary of the Cruse family at Issan, this is packed with still-young and creamy cassis and blackcherry fruits, gourmet brioche and smoked earth notes, an exceptional vintage, that is harmonious and balanced at this point. This was a warm summer but Issan has maintained freshness and juice, with signature Margaux floral and gunsmoke aromatics. The appellation of Margaux saw 32mm of rain compared to the northern Medoc that was closer to 110mm, and it shows in the concentration of this wine. 55% new oak. Harvest September 21 to October 10, yield 40hl/h. Drinking range: 2021 - 2046 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2022)
The 2015 Château d’Issan has an intense bouquet, even more than the 2010 when juxtaposed side-by-side, with multilayered black fruit, bilberry and light marine scents and hints of wild heather that I did not notice three years ago. The palate is beautifully balanced with very supple, lithe tannins. There is more red fruit compared to the 2010, with a little more sapidity. In fact, I suspect on this showing that the d’Issan may ultimately edge ahead. This is very elegant and harmonious with an almost pixelated finish. Drinking range: 2023 - 2045 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)
The 2015 d'Issan, which was bottled in May 2017, has a potent bouquet with a mixture of black cherries, cedar and subtle estuarine aromas that were in evidence from barrel. This is a bouquet that is determined to make a statement. The palate is medium-bodied with quite grippy tannin, nicely structured à la Brane-Cantenac with veins of pencil lead towards the finish. This is simply an outstanding d'Issan...perhaps the best to date? Tasted in Bordeaux at a private dinner. Drinking range: 2023 - 2050 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2018)
Very complex aromas of currants, blackberries and iodine with hints of dried mushrooms and flowers. Full-bodied, very fine and silky with a very, very long finish. Shows tension and finesse. Structured yet shows an ultra-fine texture. Deep, dense center palate, yet it's all so polished. A wine for the future. Drinking range: 2022 - Rating: 96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
The 2015 d'Issan is a total knock-out. Spectacularly ripe and intense, the 2015 exudes richness in all of its dimensions. Super-ripe dark plum, lavender, spice, savory herbs, iron, smoke and new leather add myriad shades of nuance to this super-ripe, decidedly hedonistic Margaux. A powerful, dense wine, the 2015 is going to need a number of years before it is close to being ready to drink. I was quite impressed with d'Issan both times I tasted it. The 2015 has really come along nicely. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, aged in 50% new oak. Eric Boissenot consults. Drinking range: 2023 - 2040 Rating: 95 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
The assemblage here is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot. The yield was 40 hl/ha, and this took 55% of the crop. A charming, really dark yet perfumed nose, showing a pencil-drawn definition to the fruit, smoky and imposing. This is very pretty and poised, feeling like a wine of conviction, but also one true to the appellation The palate is filled with purely defined black fruits especially black plum, laced with liquorice. A very fine grip, poised, fresh, with a very finely poised precision. Correct tannins, with a ripe, lightly chalky and beautifully precise definition. A fresh and quite beautiful elegance, with perfumed black plum and damson, a floral elegance, overall a very smart wine with a long and elegant finish filled with ripe tannins. Rating: 17-18/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
A 65% Cabernet, 35% Merlot blend from old vines, this epitomises the charm of Margaux with lightly explosive fruit and integrated tannins to give perfect balance. Drinking range: 2020 - 2035 Rating: 93 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
Only medium crimson. Only medium intensity of aroma but lots of vivacity underneath. Very 'new-fashioned', as the Joanne brothers put it. Racy and full of real charm and energy. Lots behind this. This builds towards the end in a way that good burgundy does. Chapeau! Drink 2024-2039 Drinking range: 2024 - 2039 Rating: 17.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 d'Issan is a striking Margaux. Next to so many other wines of the appellation that are much more opulent, the d'Issan presents a much more feral, savory profile. Smoke, tobacco, leather, cedar, white pepper and game are some of the signatures. Deep, powerful and endowed with a real sense of explosive energy, the 2015 is bursting at the seams with personality. D'Issan is less showy and opulent than most Margauxs and yet it is also super-distinctive. The 2015 is perhaps a bit rustic and eccentric, but those are small quibbles at this level. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, aging 50% new oak. Eric Boissenot is the consultant. Rating: 93-95 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Focused, with a twinge of singed alder and cedar up front giving this a slightly old-school feel, followed by a good core of steeped plum and black currant fruit. Picks up a bit of the vintage’s velvety edge on the finish, though the cedar note lingers as well Rating: 88—91 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
This is solid and muscular Issan with round and powerful tannins. Full and long. Impressively structured. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2016)
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.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.