Chateau d'Issan 'Blason d'Issan' 2016 - 1.5 Litre Bottle

Chateau d’Issan is in the middle of the Margaux appellation, a truly privileged location, which explains the outstanding quality of its wines. The mild weather, regulated by being close to the sea and the Gironde Estuary, provides ideal conditions for vine growth. It is classified as a third growth in the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux.

Blason d’Issan, the second wine, was introduced from 1995 onwards to enable selection amongst our vines growing in the Margaux appellation area. Fruit from their youngest vines is used to produce this wine, which respects the identity of its terroir, while offering a tasty round fruitiness, which can be enjoyed earlier. Blason d’Issan is also aged in barrels for 14 to 16 months, one third of which are new. Annual production is around 120,000 bottles.

96 Points - James Suckling

The brightness and precision already comes through on the nose with floral, blackcurrant character. Full-bodied and very tight and creamy with polished tannins that last for minutes. Warm and intense. Needs four to five years to show all it has, yet already a beauty.

95 Points - Wine Enthusiast

This wine has an austere structure, with firm tannins. The fruit comes through slowly, revealing an attractive black-currant flavor and ample acidity. This will be a very fine wine with time; try after 2029.

94+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2016 D'Issan is blended of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot, aged in 50% new and 50% one-year-old French oak for 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it has vibrant black cherries and blackcurrants notes with chocolate mint, beef drippings, black olives, and cigar box. Medium-bodied with a well-sustained, intensely flavored mid-palate, it has a rock-solid, grainy frame, and a long, savory finish. 10,500 cases produced.

94 Points - Decanter

A lovely wine that delivers on its en primeur promise, with contemporary touches of cocoa-dusted rich damson, creamy blackberries, and extremely well handled grilled oak. It has lovely lift, and the fruit is buttressed neatly by well worked tannins, while the acidity gives an elegant twist. Welcoming and sculpted.

94+ Points - Jeb Dunnuck

I loved the 2016 Chateau d'Issan, and this is a certainly a wine to seek out. Made from a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot from yields of 55 hectoliters per hectare, aged 18 months in 50% new oak, it has a beautiful perfume of blue fruits (cassis, blueberries, etc.), as well as hints of graphite, subtle oak, and charcoal. Medium to full-bodied, with integrated acidity, a terrific mid-palate, and perfect balance, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age and is going to cruise in good cellars for 20-25 years or more. It’s a beautiful, elegant, seamless wine that’s very much in the style of the vintage.