The 2017 Château d'Issan is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, offering elegant Margaux floral aromas and a mix of ripe fruits, such as plum and cassis, with earthy and spicy notes. The medium-bodied wine is plush with soft acidity and juicy fruit, leading to a spicy finish. It has a balanced and refined structure, with a long aging potential. Best enjoyed after 2024, this vintage reflects the estate's unique terroir and a successful harvest despite early frosts.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 94
Published: Jan 10, 2020

The plum and orange-peel character comes through here with subtle focus. Medium body and very fine, polished and refined tannins. A light, dusty texture to it. Yet, it'salways focused and bright. A blend of 65% cabernet sauvignon and 35% merlot. Needs time to soften, but already very pretty. Ethereal. Drink after 2022. 

Decanter | D 93
Published: Nov 21, 2019
Drink: 2024-2040

Tasted several times, this is showing a confident mix of elegance, Margaux floral aromatics and sculpted fruits, balancing out a more rustic, frank and charming side to the wine. Clear complexity, and overall a feeling of being in safe hands. There was very little frost overall at Issan, and the Clos ripened well.

Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 13.00%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon 35% Merlot

The Wine Advocate | RP 92+
Published: Mar 16, 2020
Drink: 2020-2035

The 2017 D'Issan (a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot) is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with a nose of baked plums, warm cassis and stewed cherries plus earth, balsamic, Sichuan pepper and herbs hints. The palate is medium-bodied and plush with soft acidity and bags of juicy fruit leading to a gratifyingly spicy finish.  

Chateau-issan.com

Château d’Issan is a Third Growth of the 1855 Imperial Classification. The 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 our two grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Château d’Issan expresses the exquisite bouquet so characteristic of Margaux, and stands out with its suppleness, subtlety, elegance and long keeping potential that come from its unique terroir. Château d’Issan is aged in barrels for 16 to 18 months, half of which are new. Annual production is around 100,000 bottles.

Protected by the wall
Winter was dry and cold, so the vines hibernated peacefully. A lovely warm spring stimulated early budding. In Bordeaux on April 27th and 28th, there were
heavy frosts, but the d’Issan “clos” was fortunately spared. The wall surrounding the estate was built in 1644. Being located close to the Gironde Estuary means that our terroir enjoys outstanding geological features and an unparalleled microclimate. Thanks to these conditions our vines were not affected by the series of cold spells that hit the region.

Record flowering
Also due to the conditions, flowering was seamless and over in less than a week, uniformly and simultaneously in our two varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. At this point, we estimated the vines to be two weeks ahead of their usual growth calendar. The vintage seemed it was going to be an early one! Very hot weather in June kept the vines still ahead of the average. Much-needed rain
at the beginning of July led to a gradual, continuous onset of ripening. Mid-veraison was reached on July 25th. 

Earliest harvest since 2003
The Merlot were harvested between September 18th and 27th. The Cabernet Sauvignon were picked between September 25th and October 3rd. Since flowering
was so short and homogeneous, harvesting was the earliest since 2003. The grapes that were picked were lovely and fruity, and very ripe with silky, classy tannins.

Blending
Blending was finished by mid-January with nicely balanced selections. Château d’Issan 2017 is comparable to no other vintage, but remains completely loyal to
the true expression of its historic terroir – that is the magic of its “Clos”.