Chateau d'Issan Margaux 2016 - 750ml

97pts Jane Anson

Tight and closed but clearly going to power out of the gate in five or six years. Shows depth and persistency, with precision and balance to the fruit flavours, feels like every base is covered, laced through with liquorice, cinnamon and black chocolate, and although there is power it has a light touch. A delicious wine, long life ahead, note it down for the future.

97pts James Suckling

Aromas of chocolate and aromatic herbs. Medium-bodied, very balanced and accessible, with precise tannins and ethereal fruit. Approachable now, with the tannins tightening gently in the finish. Wonderful balance. Drink now or hold. 10 Years On retrospective.

95pts Wine Enthusiast

This wine has an austere structure, with firm tannins. The fruit comes through slowly, revealing an attractive black-currant flavor and ample acidity. This will be a very fine wine with time; try after 2029.

94pts Decanter

A lovely wine that delivers on its en primeur promise, with contemporary touches of cocoa-dusted rich damson, creamy blackberries and extremely well handled grilled oak. It has lovely lift and the fruit is buttressed neatly by well worked tannins, while the acidity gives an elegant twist. Welcoming and sculpted.

94pts Jeb Dunnuck

I loved the 2016 Château d'Issan and this is a certainly a wine to seek out. Made from a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot from yields of 55 hectoliters per hectare, aged 18 months in 50% new oak, it has a beautiful perfume of blue fruits (cassis, blueberries, etc.) as well as hints of graphite, subtle oak, and charcoal. Medium to full-bodied, with integrated acidity, a terrific mid-palate, and perfect balance, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age and is going to cruise in good cellars for 20-25 years or more. It’s a beautiful, elegant, seamless wine that’s very much in the style of the vintage.

94pts Wine Advocate

The 2016 D'Issan is blended of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot, aged in 50% new and 50% one-year-old French oak for 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it has vibrant black cherries and blackcurrants notes with chocolate mint, beef drippings, black olives and cigar box. Medium-bodied with a well-sustained, intensely flavored mid-palate, it has a rock-solid, grainy frame and long savory finish. 10,500 cases produced.

91pts Wine Spectator

Light pepper and savory hints lead off in this bouncy, juicy version, with bright cassis and bitter cherry fruit forming the core. Shows a light mineral edge on the finish