Chateau d'Issan 3eme Cru Classe, Margaux 2012

The 2012 Château d’Issan, 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).

Sexy, spicy, gourmet aromatics on the attack, turning fleshy through the palate. This has a lot to enjoy, it maybe won't age quite as well as the 2011, but a definite one to note for enjoyment over the next decade. You can begin drinking now, enjoying the many rich raspberry and bilberry flavours, with smokey tobacco edging.

The 2012 d'Issan has a very perfumed and expressive bouquet with ebullient blackberry, iodine and cedar scents, very focused and classy with seamlessly integrated new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perfect acidity, compact at the moment but brimming over with mineralité and tension. This seems to have blossomed in bottle after a patchy showing in barrel and now it comes highly recommended. Tasted at the d’Issan vertical held at the property.

The 2012 d'Issan is dark and beautifully layered in the glass. Plum, crème de cassis, leather, herbs and cloves open up in in a silky, polished wine that impresses with its balance and overall poise. The d'Issan is a bit dark for Margaux, but that is a detail; the 2012 is a gorgeous wine in every way. The blend is 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot. This is terrific showing from d'Issan and winemaker Eric Boissenot.