Chateau d'Issan 3eme Cru Classe, Margaux 2010

Excellent quality, totally maintains the character difference between the 2009 and 2010 vintages while delivering excellent in each one. Silky tannins, beautiful spice, chocolate, espresso, smoked caramel, and this will stay on this plateau for decades, just totally classy and easy to recommend. 50% new oak for ageing, 42hl/h yield. Harvest September 27 to October 14. Last time I tasted this, two years ago, it was nowhere near as open as it is today, and this is an upscore.

Exhibiting beautifully ripe currants, truffle, leather, and some floral notes, the 2010 Château D'Issan is medium to full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, and has a juicy, elegant, classy style with so much to love. Still young but clearly in its prime drinking window, it has another two decades of longevity ahead of it. Drink 2025-2045.

A complete, medium to full-bodied, exquisite Margaux from this medieval, moat-encircled, compellingly beautiful estate in the southern Medoc, D’Issan’s 2010 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. The deep, gravelly soils mixed with clay have provided extraordinary aromatics. The yields were ridiculously low 22 hectoliters per hectare) and the wine tips the scale at 13.7% natural alcohol. Production was small after the selection for the grand vin, and the result is a dense, purple-colored wine with beautiful aromatics of spring flowers, blueberries and black raspberries as well as hints of cassis, tar and charcoal. The wine is gorgeously pure, well-balanced, and soft enough to be approached in 4-5 years or cellared for 25-30. Emmanuel Cruse has done a superb job at this moated castle on the southern approach to the appellation of Margaux. The dense blue/purple-tinged 2010 reveals notes of violets, blue and black fruits, a striking minerality, excellent purity, texture and length, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel and noticeable but sweet, well-integrated tannins. It should drink well in 5-6 years and last 25-35.

Starts off elegant and balanced, with blueberry and floral character. Full and silky. But turns chewy and mouth puckering. Very extracted. But will turn out really outstanding. Best from here in decades.

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 D'Issan opens with baked blackberries, blackcurrant jelly and stewed plums scents with hints of bouquet garni and charcoal. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is bright and refreshing with just enough chewy, textured black fruits and an earthy finish.

The 2010 Château d’Issan has a very intense bouquet with layers of black fruit interlaced with wild hedgerow, touches of iodine and brine that I noticed on the same bottle a couple of years ago. This still requires a couple of years (or 2-3 hours of decanting) before serving. The palate is much more refined than the 2005, particularly the tannins that are less prominent. Very harmonious and lightly spiced, there is bewitching symmetry about this d’Issan and it is just as sophisticated as I found back in 2018. Wonderful delineation and clearly more persistence on the finish compared to the aforementioned 2005.

Bright medium ruby. Wild, musky aromas of black raspberry, cassis, cedar, smoke, leather, game and bitter chocolate. Dense, chewy and dry, with good peppery lift to the cherry skin and bitter chocolate flavors. Finishes with surprisingly fine-grained tannins and a juicy quality. This dry, classic claret needs time in bottle to gain flesh and sweetness. My sample grew freshness with time in the glass.

(a 69/31 blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot; 72 IPT; 3.81 pH; 13.7% alcohol) Deep, bright ruby-purple. Classic highly perfumed aromas of blackcurrant, violet, crushed stone and gunflint. Bright, clean and concentrated but currently backward, with densely packed black fruit and mineral flavors displaying a wonderfully precise, penetrating quality. Finishes long and subtle, with an austere quality and a lingering note of violet. This will need plenty of time to show its best: I find that the better vintages of Issan age gracefully; while never turning into behemoths, they put on weight and flesh with bottle age. For example, the 1999 is drinking splendidly now. Enjoy this one from 2020 through 2040.