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: 2012 d'Issan, Margaux

2012 d'Issan, Margaux

SKU #1193089 95 points Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark 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. (RP) Inner quote mark (4/2015)

94 points Decanter

Outer quote mark The complexity of the construction here is striking. This has relatively high acidity, but the depth of cassis and bilberry fruits balances things out, along with touches of slate, cigar and pencil lead. The tannins retain a fairly strong hold right now. Successful in both 2011 and 2012, proving once again just how consistent Issan is. 50% new oak. (JA) Inner quote mark (11/2018)

93 points Vinous

Outer quote mark 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. (NM) Inner quote mark (7/2018)

91-93 points Wine Enthusiast

Outer quote mark A ripe and fruity wine with some chocolate extract as well as black-currant fruitiness. This is a soft wine with attractive final acidity. (RV) Inner quote mark (4/2013)

92 points James Suckling

Outer quote mark This is an excellent red now with sweet tobacco, truffles and berries. Full body, vevlety tannins and a savory finish. This shows the Issan character of decadence and richness. Inner quote mark (3/2015)

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2012 d'Issan, Margaux

Price: $84.99

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Product Reviews:

By: David Othenin-Girard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/13/2016 | Send Email

This might be the deal of the vintage. This is real solid uncompromising style of Margaux for a very reasonable price. I really can't believe it's still in stock because this is both drinking and cellaring Bordeaux at a fraction of the cost of some of it's neighbors. Big notes of coffee, violets, dark plum and vanilla. The perfect silky texture and wonderful ripe tannin. The whole thing is balanced and lifted with a great freshness! An open bombastic style without the sense that it's modernized or international in style at all.

By: Andrew Whiteley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/5/2016 | Send Email

Routinely one of my favorite Chateau, d'Issan delivers again in 2012. The hallmark of d'Issan for me isn't the beautiful violets, dark plum, and sweet cassis that I find in almost every vintage, but the extreme elegance they have upon release and lasting long into old age. The great pricing, even for older vintages doesn't hurt either. It's part of the reason I love picking up every bottle of d'Issan I can. Enjoy one today!

By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 6/30/2016 | Send Email

The 2012 Bordeaux wines are showing fabulously these days. They are so fruit forward and sweet-and the prices are quite low. d'Issan is one of my favorites for sure. That soft toasty aroma is intriguing and the wine has nothing but gobs of fruit on the palate. The vilolets of margaux wines is present and the finish is long and lingering.. So good I have it in my cellar.

Drink from 2017 to 2030

By: Gary Westby | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 1/12/2016 | Send Email

Tear up your vintage chart and tear into this 2012 d'Issan the next time you have a special steak night- you will be glad that you did. It is very rare for such a young wine to charm me as much as this great Margaux. This excellent Bordeaux is amazingly open and balanced for drinking right now, and perhaps the best fruit driven Cab we have from anywhere at this price point. If you like a wine with sexy dark fruit and seamless texture, this is a great choice. I love the coffee house oak and seamless texture in this bottle!

Drink from 2016 to 2032

By: David Driscoll | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 1/12/2016 | Send Email

This wine is absolutely gorgeous in every possible way: delicate violet notes, soft plum, subtle structure, and an elegant finish. It's everything I expect from high-end Bordeaux, especially from Margaux. The caveat here is you're getting a wine that, in my opinion, completely outshines the 2009 Issan, yet is priced $30 less per bottle. It will easily hold up for a decade or more and should offer stunning complexity once the layers begin to unfold. This wine is a clear and shining example of why vintages must be assessed on a producer-by-producer basis, rather than as general blanket statements.

By: Alex Pross | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 1/12/2016 | Send Email

Last year I had the opportunity to visit Chateau d’Issan for the first time and I was absolutely blown away by both the beauty of the Chateau as well as the deliciousness of the wines. The 2012 d’Issan Margaux for $49.99 is a flat-out steal and is easily one of the better values I have tasted for under $50. A beautiful nose of rose, raspberry cream and subtle hints of mocha follow thru to a delicate and pretty palate of dark raspberry, graphite and crushed flowers. Great structure and delineation lead to a soft and supple finish. Bravo!!

Top Value! Drink from 2016 to 2040

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends

- Cabernet Sauvignon has come a long way from its role as a blending varietal, however dominant, in the wines of Bordeaux. Today it is the most planted red varietal in the world. Identified as a descendent of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon needs to be planted in warmer climates to fully ripen. Its small berries can easily be identified for their distinctive blue color, thick skins and high tannins. And while the varietal has its own definitive characteristics: green pepper-like aromas and black currant flavors among them, it is perhaps most prized for its ability to convey terroir, vintage and winemaking. A relatively new varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon started making inroads into the wines of the Médoc and Graves in the late-18th century. Today it is also dominant in the up-and-coming Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux and can also be found in Southwest France. It is the companion varietal to Sangiovese in Italy's Super Tuscans and is planted all over Europe, stretching to lesser-known winegrowing regions like Russia and Lebanon. In the Americas Cabernet Sauvignon has found champions in every nook and cranny of California and among winemakers in Washington, where it complements plantings of Merlot. In South America, Cab thrives in Chile, but can also be found in smaller amounts in Argentina and even in Mexico.

Country:

France

- When it comes to wine, France stands alone. No other country can beat it in terms of quality and diversity. And while many of its Region, Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne most obviously, produce wine as rare, as sought-after and nearly as expensive as gold, there are just as many obscurities and values to be had from little known appellations throughout the country. To learn everything there is to know about French wine would take a lifetime. To understand and appreciate French wine, one only has to begin tasting them.

Sub-Region:

Bordeaux

Specific Appellation:

Margaux

- Margaux is the southern most of all of the appellations of the Haut Medoc. Located near St. Julien, it has more cru classe producers than the other four villages of the area. In addition to the legendary Chateau Margaux, there are five second-growths: Rauzan Gassies, Rauzan Seglas, Dufort-Vivens, Lascombes, and Brane Cantenac. While more people are probably familiar with the third growth Chateau Palmer, there are nine other wineries with the same ranking in addition to a trio of fourth growths and a pair of fifth growths. Because Margaux is comprised of five communes… Margaux, Cantenac, Soussans, Labardes and Arsac, the wines styles are diverse throughout the region with the more masculine tannic wines coming from the Cantenac side of the appellation. Because of a high percentage of Merlot planted in the region, many wines from Margaux are more round, feminine, and exotic that the other appellations of the Haut Medoc.