We return to a more normal balance and concentration in 2011; this is still powerful, elegant, still full of Issan character, but you will not have to wait so long to enjoy this wine. Floral notes evident, followed up by blueberry and tobacco, a little tight but has elegance and power. A dry summer, with a yield of 36hl/ha, harvest finished on 26 September, with a high tannin count.

Cropped between 12th and 26th September the d'Issan '11 is a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon and 39% Merlot that was cropped at 36hl/ha. The nose is closed and minerally tightly wound with scents of limestone and granite. The palate is medium-bodied with tensile tannin crisp blackberry blueberry and a touch of vanilla. It has a gentled but insistent grip a slight saline note towards the composed finish that is focused and poised. This has good potential and continues d'Issan's good run of form.

At Château d’Issan this year, Emmanuel Cruse did not panic and start picking too early, as the merlot harvest started on the 12th of September and was completed on the 16th, while the cabernet sauvignon was collected between September 20th and 26th. The 2011 Château d’Issan is a lovely wine, offering up a deep, reserved and classy nose of cassis, dark berries, coffee bean, cigar ash, dark soil tones and a suave base of nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and primary, with a fine core of fruit, firm, ripe tannins and very good length and grip on the chewy, but well-balanced finish. This will need a full decade to blossom, but is one of the top wines in the commune again this year- a frequent occurrence in the last several vintages! (Drink between 2022-2055)

The 2011 Château d'Issan offers pleasant blackberry and raspberry scented mixed with pressed iris flower on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with a pliant opening, approachable and smooth in texture. Not deep, quite Saint-Julien like towards the finish with decent length. Not exciting, but certainly competently made. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting. -- Neal Martin

60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot. Aged in 50% new oak. 53 hectares of 35-year-old vines grown on gravel soils. Beautiful ruby color throughout this elegant Margaux. Inviting aromas of red currant are followed by semi-sweet chocolate and tobacco. Medium-bodied with some grippy tannins toward the finish. I really like the overall mouthfeel and drinkability of this young D'Issan though it will benefit from at least a few years in the cellar. Enjoy 2015-2025.

Leafy, forest floor, cedar and cassis aromas, medium bodied, accessible and forward, you can drink this cassis and olive filled wine young, while waiting for the 2010 and 2009 to develop. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2011+d%27Issan

A gentle, elegant style, with a lightly dusty frame around the core of crushed plum and blackberry fruit. Shows a twinge of cocoa on the finish, with an echo of warm stone at the very end. Best from 2016 through 2024. 7,500 cases made. –JM