05 Moulin d'Issan

2005 Moulin d'Issan;
Ruby, massive sweet nose (in this context), some bell peppers, easy going, one-dimentional and ripe. 78

This is not a second label of Château d'Issan as one would expect, but a Bordeaux Superieur grown right on the border with the Margaux appelation.

From www.thewinedoctor.com: The vineyard at d'Issan has been expanded considerably since the acquisition by the Cruse family, gradually increasing from just a couple of hectares after the war to the current size of 53 hectares, a small proportion of the entire estate which covers 120 hectares, most of which is pasture. Until recently these vineyards included 22 hectares outside the Margaux appellation, some classified as Haut-Médoc and some as a Bordeaux Supérieur. The former is named for the Candale family, as Château de Candale (typically 6000 cases per annum). The latter, introduced in 1988, is the product of the vines on the right-hand side of the poplar-lined driveway up to the château (the vines on the other side are AC Margaux), and is labelled Moulin d'Issan (typically 6000 cases per annum). Both provide for potential confusion with the second wine, discussed below, but they are in fact sourced consistently from the same vineyards and their differing appellations should remind us of this. Having said this, in recent years it has been "all-change" at Issan, with the reclassification of some of these vineyards. In October 2007 10 hectares of the Haut-Médoc vineyards have been reclassified as AC Margaux, so the production of the Candale Haut-Médoc will be drastically reduced from the 2008 vintage onwards, and as the fruit is destined for the second wine volumes of this will be greatly increased.