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2020 BLASON D'ISSAN Margaux Château d'Issan, Lea & Sandeman

BLASON D'ISSAN

2020 Margaux Château d'Issan

Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Sub-district Haut Médoc
Village Margaux
ABV 13%

Dried oranges and plums with bark, mushroom and forest floor aromas that follow through to medium to full body with a dense finish and excellent energy. Spices such as nutmeg and sandalwood. Some chocolate, too. 57% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon and 3% petit verdot. Best after 2025. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)


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The 2020 Blason d'Issan is a tasty, juicy Margaux to drink now and over the next handful of years, while the fruit remains vibrant. Drinking range: 2023 - 2030 Rating: 90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)

Plenty of character and punch, with evident tannins, serious in style softened by autumnal fruits, espresso and black chocolate. Less exuberant in its aromatic structure than the 2019 vintage of this wine, a more classic take on Blason d'Issan, with grip and poise, showing undergrowth and grilled sandalwood on the finish. Eric Boissenot consultant. They have begun a programme of massal selection from their oldest (1948) Petit Verdot vines that arrived with the purchase of neighbouring Château Pontac Lynch, to be planted in the main walled vineyard known as L'Enclos. Harvest September 17 to October 2, 38.5hl/ha yield. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2023)

The 2020 Blason d'Issan has opened up nicely on the nose since I tasted this in barrel. It displays a mixture of red and black fruit, pencil box, vanilla pod and just a hint of Indian ink. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, maybe just a bit of rusticity here with quite a peppery finish. This will just need a year to smooth its edges. Drinking range: 2024 - 2034 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)

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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