Château d'Issan 2019

Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux

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.

VertdeVin

The nose is elegant and offers delicacy in its power, a fine airiness in its approach and a fine, discreetly tight grain. There are notes of crunchy wild blackcurrant, crunchy red berries and more slightly morello cherry combined with fine hints of violet, racy minerality and a discreet hint of plum blossom, lily, pepper and a very discreet hint of vanilla. The palate is fruity and offers juiciness, delicacy, finesse in the definition of the fruit, minerality, fine tension, silky finesse and a nice body/texture. On the palate this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy cherry, juicy/pulpy blackberry and more slightly of red berries combined with a touch of violet plum, violet, fine notes of lily, tonka bean, a subtle hint of good bitterness/variety as well as a discreet touch of camphor/black tea and cocoa. The tannins are racy. A very fine saline edge to the finish. Good length. Nice acidic, crisp and sapid finish.

Robert Parker 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

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.

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.