- Château d’Issan 2023 has been released for £450 per 12×75.
- ‘Shows excellent potential’, said William Kelley who rated it 93-95 points.
- Buyers looking for value have several options, including the 2015, 2019 and 2020 vintages.
As part of this year’s Bordeaux En Primeur campaign, Château d’Issan 2023 has been released at €37.20 per bottle ex-négociant, down 27.1% on the 2022 release (€51 per bottle).
It is being offered by the international trade for £450 per 12×75, a 26.5% decrease on the 2022’s opening price (£612 a case).
The new release is one of the most expensive on the market. As such, buyers looking for value have several options, including the 2019 and 2020 vintages. See more pricing analysis below.
Critical response
According to William Kelley (The Wine Advocate), who awarded a barrel score of 93-95 points, ‘the 2023 d’Issan shows excellent potential’.
James Lawther MW (Jancis Robinson) gave a score of 16+/20, adding that the wine was ‘a touch austere and needs to settle’.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent) awarded the wine a barrel score of 92-94+ points. Though ‘quite closed off to start’, she described the palate as ‘chock full of expressive black and redberry flavors with loads of spicy accents’.
Jane Anson called the wine ‘well constructed’, awarding a score of 95 points.
‘A rich, muscular Margaux’, said Antonio Galloni (Vinous), who awarded 93-95 points.
Neal Martin (Vinous) gave a score 91-93 points, adding that he feels ‘other recent vintages have shown a touch more complexity’.
Pricing analysis
According to the Liv-ex Fair Value methodology, Market Prices of Château d’Issan are 54.1% correlated with scores from Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW. As shown in the chart below, today’s release falls above the Fair Value regression line. There are options in back vintages that may present reasonable value to buyers.
The 94-point 2017 and 2019 vintages may both offer Fair Value. They are available at an 11.3% and a 8.9% discount respectively to today’s release. Fans of Neal Martin may opt for the 2019 vintage, which boasts his joint highest score of the decade, 94 points.
Jane Anson awarded both the 2015 and the 2020 vintages 95 points, as did Lisa Perrotti-Brown. Falling below the regression line they represent Fair Value and are available at a slight discount to today’s release.
Use our ready-made list to easily spot opportunities in back-vintages of Château d’Issan and other Bordeaux wines.
Our Bordeaux En Primeur 2023 page contains everything you need to know about this year’s campaign. You can also sign up for our daily En Primeur email alerts using the form below.
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 620+ merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 20,000 wines.
