Château d'Issan 2022 Margaux 3e Grand Cru Classé

James Suckling
96-97/100 punten
This is one hell of an Issan with blackberry, blackcurrant, and hazelnut aromas and flavors. Cherries. Cedar. Full and intense with tannins that are long and bright. Goes tight at the end, indicating greatness. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 2% cabernet franc, 2% malbec and 1% petit verdot.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate
93-95/100 punten
The 2022 D'Issan is a lovely wine that will delight Médoc purists, wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet berries, burning embers, violets and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with velvety tannins and a deep core of vibrant fruit, it's a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. The estate is now equipped with a battery of 20-hectoliter tanks, permitting sub-plot by sub-plot harvesting this year.

Jeb Dunnuck
(95-97)+/100 punten
The 2022 Château D'Issan ratchets up the quality, offering more purity, precision, and length. Revealing notes of darker currants and blue fruits, graphite, and chalky minerality, this medium to full-bodied red has beautiful freshness, and is focused, straight, and elegant. Just a beautiful barrel sample, it’s very impressive.

The Wine Independent (Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW)
(95-97)+/100 punten
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot, with a yield of 30 hl/ha and aging in 50% new oak, d’Issan 2022 has a pH of 3.67 and a TPI of 72. It is deep garnet-purple in color and comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant notes of crème de cassis, baked blackberries, and plum preserves, plus suggestions of tilled soil, clove oil, candied violets, and charcoal. The full-bodied palate has a firm structure of wonderfully ripe, fine-grained tannins and lovely tension supporting the dense, muscular black fruits, with a long finish and loads of floral and mineral sparks. Beautiful!

Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider)
(95-97)/100 punten
Violets, black cherries, blueberries, blackberries, cocoa, cedar, and cigar box fill the aromatics. On the palate, the wine is lively, creamy, deep, long, and most importantly pure. The tannins are silky, and even with all this ripeness, and concentration, the wine remains fresh, vibrant, long and sensuous. This is undoubtedly the finest vintage of d'Issan ever produced! The wine is made from a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot. 14.64% ABV, 3.67 pH. This is the only the third vintage to include 5 Bordeaux varietals in the blend. Picking took place September 15 - September 28. Yields were 30 hectoliters per hectare.

Decanter
96/100 punten
Deep, heady, really quite seductive and aromatic on the nose, draws you in with bramble fruits, chocolate, exotic spices and perfumed floral nuances. Juicy and lively, pure and focussed, but such a vibrancy to this wine. Sweet and sour elements combine with really salty, chalky, powdery and quite filling tannins that give the nuance of flavour and texture. Bright yet serious, finessed yet layered. Lovely intensity of elements. On the more savoury side right now in terms of lingering flavour but there’s mouthwatering acidity giving the liveliness and sense of fun. I really like this, textured, upfront, forward, extremely drinkable and so approachable, but thrilling too. An exciting wine with great integration and finesse and still clear strength underneath. One of the most exciting wines this year. Stylish, potent and polished. I love it! A yield of 30hl/ha. Harvest 15 - 28 September. 1% PV planted in 1948, 12% press wine. 2% Malbet and 1% Petit Verdot complete the blend. Total acidity: 3.55. 50% new barrels. 3.67pH.

Falstaff
96/100 punten
Deep, dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections, subtly brighter at the rim. Hints of fresh fig and orange zest, ripe plum and sweet cherry and in the background, a touch of noble wood. Juicy, fine fruit, fine acid structure, ripe cherry and integrated tannins. Despite its content, surprising freshness and elegance, with very good length and definite ageing potential.

Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux)
95/100 punten
Fragrant dried cumin and turmeric spices on the opening, along with floral waves of rose petals, this maintains the finesse of Issan, delivering estate signature alongside fleshy blackberry and baked damson fruits, with waves of liquorice, graphite and crushed rocks. The oldest vines are kept for the 1st wine, and almost 80% of the new plots of Pontac Lynch are included here in Issan, giving a darker spiced character than you find in other hot vintages at this estate such as 2009. They almost pulled up the Malbec when they bought Pontac Lynch but it has once again proved its worth. 30hl/h yield (compared to 38hl/h last year). 3.67ph. 72IPT. Eric Boissenot consultant. 50% new oak.