d'Issan Margaux 2018

96 points James Suckling: "Aromas of blackberry, plum, cocoa, iodine, clove and graphite. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, silky tannins. Tightly wound and mineral at the moment, with dusty gravel and graphite notes, yet with focus and precision. Such balance and harmony for the vintage. Try from 2025. (1/27/21)"

94-96 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate): "The 2018 D'Issan is composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, aging in 50% new and 50% second year barrels for an estimated 18 months. With 13.97% alcohol and a deep garnet-purple color, it features baked berries, warm cherries and cassis with spice box and fragrant earth plus tea hints. Medium to full-bodied, it has a great core of muscular fruit with firm, fine-grained tannins, with nice freshness, finishing layered with mineral notions. (4/23/19)"

95 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The top wine, the 2018 Château D'Issan is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot that spent 18 months in 50% new French oak. It offers a beautiful, singular bouquet of blackcurrants, new leather, smoked tobacco, scorched earth, and camphor. This carries to a medium to full-bodied, seamless Margaux with wonderful tannins, beautifully integrated acidity, and just a flawlessly balanced, elegant, layered style that's going to evolve for 20-25 years. It's one classy 2018 that has loads to love. Drink: 2021-2046. (3/11/21)"

95 points Jane Anson (Decanter): "Well-balanced, fleshed out by redcurrant, raspberry and black cherry fruits. There is tannic build-up, gently layering but adding up to quite the wall at this stage, suggesting a long life ahead, and beautifully judged cigar smoke edging through the finish. Good stuff from Issan, and a wine I have tasted both at en primeur and during ageing in barrel. 50% new oak. Drinking Window: 2026-2045. (11/10/20)"

95 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "Silky, fresh, floral and pure, this gorgeous vintage of d'Issan is just great. The violet and lilac bouquet, with accents of tobacco leaf, cedar, crème de cassis attracts you right off the bat. On the palate, the wine is refined, elegant and shows its purity, freshness and silky textures with no effort. Give it 7-9 years in the bottle and enjoy it over the following 2-decades or more. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. (Mar 2021)"

95 points La Revue du Vin de France: "The latest vintages are pushing Issan towards the excellence of the appellation. 2018 is an elegant, refined wine with fine, balanced substance and silky tannins. The whole is well integrated and truly seductive. (2022)"

94 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2018 d'Issan is a potent, backward wine that is going to need a number of years to come into its own. Dark and brooding, with serious intensity, the 2018 shows off real depth in its blue/purplish fruit, chocolate, spice, smoke and leather flavors. The tannins are imposing today, but, then again, everything about the 2018 feels large in scale. I can't wait to see how the 2018 ages. Drink: 2026-2043. (Mar 2021)"

94 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "This estate has been putting in some strong performances over the last decade, and after Margaux and Palmer is one of the most important estates to follow. A fairly standard blend for the estate, with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, the rest Merlot. The aromatic profile of this wine seems to focus the dark and ripe character of the vintage down into a tight seam of blackcurrant and currant intensity, acid-fresh, with a touch of floral perfume. The palate maintains this frame of fresh tannins and fine black fruits, with a chalk-dust fragrance, a touch of rose-petal pot pourri and a twist of cigar box. Great structure here, the overall composition very accomplished, with a rich seam of grip which is nicely buried within the wine. This has a very good life ahead of it. An admirably precise 13.97% alcohol. (Feb 2021)"