2012 Château d'Issan, Margaux, Bordeaux

2012 Château d'Issan, Margaux, Bordeaux

Product: 20128008798
Prices start from £270.00 per case Buying options
2012 Château d'Issan, Margaux, Bordeaux

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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12 x 75cl bottle
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Description

We have been increasingly impressed with Ch. d’Issan over the last five vintages. The 2012 opens after a muted nose with a wonderful explosion of fruit, both black and red. Its 2/3 Cabernet, 1/3 Merlot blend balances high but balanced acidity levels with well-melded oak. It is a great combination of weight and polish.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate95/100
The 2012 Chteau dIssan, builds on the richness of the second wine and adds more body, structure and density. It has an inky purple color and a stunning nose of spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit as well as touches of incense and graphite. Medium to full-bodied and stunningly concentrated, this 2012 is a great success in the vintage, one of the superstars. Moreover, its precociousness suggests it could be drunk in the next 4-5 years or cellared through 2025. I underrated this wine dramatically in my report of April, 2013 (Issue 206).
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30/04/2015 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17/20
67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot. 50% new oak. Much deeper crimson than Blason. Again, slightly strange (oak?) note on the nose. Deep and concentrated, very Cabernet. Gentle and appetising. Good oak management. Long and good savour.
Jancis Robinson MW, jancisrobinson.com, 22 Apr 2013 Read more
Wine Spectator89-92/100
A subtle style, with singed cedar and espresso hints guiding the lightly mulled plum and blackberry fruit. A warm paving stone note emerges on the finish.
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 8 2013 Read more
Robert Parker87-89/100
A touch of herbaceousness and abundant underbrush characteristics kept my score from going higher. Nevertheless, the wine offers an attractive fragrance of herbs, blue and red fruits and loamy soil undertones. Medium-bodied with an angular mouthfeel, it should drink well for a decade or more.

An elegant, restrained style of Margaux made from yields of 37 hectoliters per hectare, the 2012 d’Issan is composed of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot. Fifty-three percent of the production made it into the grand vin, which achieved 13.2% natural alcohol.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Apr 2013 Read more
Decanter17.25/20
Lovely deep colour and beautifully fragrant and pure nose, a classic “feminine” Margaux of great class. Read more

About this WINE

Chateau d'Issan

Chateau d'Issan

Ch. 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, the beginning of a special relationship between Bordeaux and England. The d’Essenault family owned the estate over five generations and rebuilt the existing château at the end of the 16th century. Surrounded by a moat, it is one of the oldest châteaux in the region and is frequently described as the most romantic in the Médoc.

In 1945 the Cruse family – already established in the Médoc for more than 150 years – purchased the property. Today Emmanuel Cruse runs the estate with the Lorenzetti family (owners of Chx Pédesclaux and Ladouys). They own 44 hectares in Margaux, planted with 62 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 38 percent Merlot. The wine spends between 16 and 18 months in oak (around 50 percent new).

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Margaux

Margaux

If Pauillac can be seen as the bastion of ‘traditional’ Red Bordeaux, then Margaux represents its other facet in producing wines that are among Bordeaux’s most sensual and alluring. It is the largest commune in the Médoc, encompassing the communes of Cantenac, Soussans, Arsac and Labaude, in addition to Margaux itself. Located in the centre of the Haut-Médoc, Margaux is the closest of the important communes to the city of Bordeaux.

The soils in Margaux are the lightest and most gravelly of the Médoc, with some also containing a high percentage of sand. Vineyards located in Cantenac and Margaux make up the core of the appelation with the best vineyard sites being located on well-drained slopes, whose lighter soils give Margaux its deft touch and silky perfumes. Further away from the water, there is a greater clay content and the wines are less dramatically perfumed.

Margaux is the most diffuse of all the Médoc appelations with a reputation for scaling the heights with irreproachable wines such as Ch. Margaux and Ch. Palmer, but also plumbing the depths, with too many other châteaux not fulfilling their potential. There has been an upward shift in recent years, but the appellation cannot yet boast the reliability of St Julien. However, the finest Margaux are exquisitely perfumed and models of refinement and subtlety which have few parallels in Bordeaux.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Margaux, Ch. Palmer, Ch. Brane-Cantenac, Ch. Rauzan-Ségla , Ch. Dufort-Vivens, Ch. Ferrière, Ch. du Tertre, Ch. Giscours, Ch. d'Angludet.

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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