2012 Blason d’Issan, Second Wine, Margaux
Coffee, licorice and black cherry in the nose with fresh, soft, but herbaceous notes in the black cherry finish. Ripe (relatively late harvest, first week to 3rd week of October) and elegant, It is structured (because of 60% Cabernet) and powerful (merlot 40%), and is still pretty stern (very Cantenac, pebbly soil). Yield is low (approximately 30% off standard Bordeaux AOC), and so the wine is intense is a second wine.
Aged in 35% new barrel, it is bottled in 14 April 2014 and begins to have the adequate bottle age showing off a bit of complexity. Length is medium, and there is lot of good black fruit.
The first wine Chateau d’Issan 2012 is awarded RP95. This second wine is RP90. Not bad at all!
The Wine Advocate - 90 pts
“A gorgeous second wine, the 2012 Blason d'Issan is beautifully sexy, soft, and creamy textured, with a dense purple color and attractive blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with some licorice and camphor. It is stunning, lush, sexy and very, very forward, an ideal second wine that reflects its appellation of origin but delivers gorgeous, even luxurious fruit levels. Drink it over the next decade.” -Robert M. Parker, Jr., eRobertParker.com #218, Apr 2015
