Grape Wine Journey

The lights were on; we looked around and realized we were the last table at the restaurant.  We looked at the two glasses of Chateau d’Issan -1979 and 1995 and thought what a shame! The wines were still closed and it would be nice if they had served the wine at the beginning of the wine dinner.

The dinner was at the Bostonian restaurant organized by Watson’s Wine.  It was a week’s events highlighting Chateau d’Issan and the owner Mr. Emmanuel Cruse was in town to host the dinners and tastings around town.

As dinner began, a tall middle aged gentleman dressed in a dark suit welcomed all the guests.  It was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was the owner, Mr. Emmanuel Cruse.  Emmanuel introduced the third growth Chateau d’Issan as one of the oldest estates in Medoc, dated back to the 17^th century.  He said proudly that the vineyard is still a family owned business.

We would be tasting 2 vintages of the second wine and 4 vintages from the first wine.  The second wine Blason d’Issan was introduced in 1995.  Emmanuel stressed that the only difference was the wines were made from younger vines, typically 15 years old vines.

The 04 and 06 Blason d’Issan were both quite easy to drink, with 04 showing more of a classic Bordeaux red with mineral and fruit and 06 closer to the new world style, more fruit on nose and palate. 

Followed with four vintages of Chateau d’Issan – 2004, 2001, 1995 and 1979; we were very eager to try the 1995 and 1979.  When Emmanuel came to our table and chatted, he seemed a bit disappointed that the wines couldn’t be decanted because of the number of guests.   The 2001 vintage should be ready to drink now, but it was still quite closed.  It only started to open up when we were at the dessert tray.

The wine glass could act as a decanter, probably if the wines were all poured in the beginning of the meal, we would be able to enjoy and compare the difference of the vintages.