Chateau d'Issan 2019
(Margaux, Bordeaux, France) - [JS 97] [DM 96] [JD 95] [VM 95]

About the Winery:

Chateau d`Issan is a Third Growth Margaux property that produces about 100,000 bottles each year. Its richly aromatic and silky-textured Clarets are often amongst the best of the appellation. The estate’s history dates back to the 1152 when the wine was officially served at the wedding of Eleanor of Aquitaine to King Henry II.

Chateau d’Issan is in the heart 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. The vines at Chateau d’Issan benefit from close, on-going care designed to produce perfectly ripe grapes. Everything is organized so that each individual plot can be tended independently in order to get the very best out of its fruit.

This wine is made from the old vines in the Château d’Issan enclosure in the middle of the Margaux appellation. The soil here is mainly made up of surface gravel on top of a clay subsoil, which contributes to optimal ripeness and freshness in their two grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon (about 62%) and Merlot (38%). 

Ratings & Reviews

97 Points - James Suckling: 
resh currants and raspberries pop out of the glass, together with oranges and cedar. Such purity of fruit in the nose. Full-bodied, yet so refined and vertical. It goes deep and long with tight, compressed tannins that are pure and exciting. Really tight and focused. Precise. Try after 2026.

96 Points - Decanter Magazine:
A concentrated but graceful feel to this Issan, showcasing why it is one of the powerhouses of Margaux without necessarily flexing its muscles the most obviously. Takes a few moments to unroll on the palate but as it does it expands both forward and outwards, beautifully filling the mid palate with creamy brambly fruits and firm but flexible tannins. This inches open, suggesting it has an extremely long life ahead of it, and is close to the 2016 in expression, although not quite with the depth of expression of that exemplary vintage. 50% new oak, 3.7pH. 45% of overall production went into the 1st wine. Harvest from 25th September to 11th October. (Drink between 2029-2045)

96 Points - Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider:
d'Issan has been on a roll lately with 2019 marking another step-up in quality. The wine is full-bodied, silky, fresh, vibrant, pure and lively. The nose is packed with wet earth, herbs, flowers, tobacco, espresso and ripe, sweet, red berries. There is serious lift and energy here with a finish that lingers, giving you more time to spend with all of its graceful, lifted, pure, sweet, fresh plums, blackberries, spice and currants. This will age and evolve for at least 2-3 decades.

95 Points - The Wine Independent:

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2019 d'Issan is a little shy at first, revealing suggestions of lilacs, baked plums, and blackcurrant pastilles, followed by hints of Chinese five spice and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is soft and harmonious with plenty of spicy fruit and a perfumed finish. 2026-2045

95 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
Pure cassis, graphite, violets, damp earth, and chocolate notes all emerge from the 2019 Château D'Issan, a richer, medium to full-bodied, powerful Margaux. It develops a gorgeous sense of minerality with time in the glass, has plenty of mid-palate oomph, integrated oak, and just terrific overall balance. It's a stunning success in the vintage in Margaux, which was one of the more challenging in the vintage. This will round into form with just 4-5 years of bottle age and cruise for two decades or more. Bravo. (Drink between 2026-2047)

95 Points - Vinous:
The 2019 d'Issan is a beautifully complex wine. The aromatics alone are beguiling, but that is just the beginning. Readers will find a powerful, layered Issan that is going to need at least a few years to start shedding some of its formidable tannin. Hints of dried rose petal, mint, blood orange, spice and star anise give the 2019 its gorgeous, beautifully lifted personality. Give this a few years, and watch what happens. 

94 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

The 2019 D'Issan is showing well from bottle, offering up aromas of sweet berries and plums mingled with violets, orange rind and raw cocoa. Medium to full-bodied, lively and nicely concentrated, with lively acids, powdery tannins and a seamless, elegant profile, it's a charming, perfumed wine that will offer a broad drinking window. The blend is dominated by an atypically high proportion (70%) of Cabernet Sauvignon. The heart of Issan is its walled "Clos" to the rear of the picturesque moated château, which is complemented by more recently acquired holdings situated on the same gravel terrace. 2025-2055.