🍷 Blason d'Issan 2009

Blason d'Issan 2009 is a red AOC Margaux wine from the 2009 harvest by Château d'Issan of Cantenac.

According to the house, the harvest ran from 22 September to 15 October; the grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon (62 %) and Merlot (38 %); 35 % of the barrels used for ageing were new; the yield was 35 hl/ha; the alcohol is 13.4 %; the wine was bottled in April 2011; 80,000 bottles were produced.

Château d'Issan is a Margaux estate in Cantenac, a 12th-century fief whose name comes from the d’Essenault family (from 1575); owned by the Cruse family since 1945, joined by the Lorenzettis in 2012; a third growth of 1855.

Margaux is a controlled designation of origin (AOC; in EU terms a PDO) on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, on the gravel terraces of the Médoc; it was first recognised by the decree of 10 August 1954 and is the largest of the Médoc’s communal appellations. The designation is reserved for still red wines. The area covers four communes of the Gironde: Arsac, Labarde, Margaux-Cantenac and Soussans. The main varieties are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cot (Malbec), Merlot and Petit Verdot; Castets is allowed as a variety for adaptation under an agreement with the INAO. Vines must be planted at no fewer than 7,000 per hectare, the yield is 57 hl/ha (ceiling 63 hl/ha), the natural strength at least 11 %, and after enrichment the wine may not exceed 13.5 %.

Under the AOC Margaux rules, the wine is matured at least until 1 June of the year after the harvest; it may not be bottled before that date, and it may be sold to consumers only from 1 September of that year. The finished wine may contain no more than 2 g of sugars per litre and no more than 0.3 g of malic acid, which means it has gone through malolactic fermentation. Grapes do not count as ripe if the must holds less than 189 g of sugar per litre for Merlot and 180 g for the other varieties. The appellation is a rule of origin and production, not a verdict on taste.

Under EU rules, a wine label must show the designation of origin, the actual alcoholic strength, allergens such as sulphites, and the name of the bottler. A harvest year on the label means the wine is made from grapes of that year.

Why it matters to you. The appellation on the label tells you where the grapes come from and under which rules the wine was made; in Bordeaux the blend and the harvest dates change every year, so different years of the same château are different wines. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol. The year on the label is the harvest year.