Château d’Issan

The château

d’Issan was a fiefdom called La Mothe-Cantenac in the 12th century, then Théobon Manor, and took its present name from the Essenault family, who held it for 5 generations from 1575 and shortened their own name to Issan. The house dates its wine from the wedding of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry Plantagenet on May 18, 1152; the written record starts later, with Henry Powell, sommelier to the Prince of Wales, in 1723, and Thomas Jefferson, who listed it in 1787. The motto over the door, Regum mensis arisque deorum, for the table of kings and the altar of the gods, shows how the owners saw it. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, recorded its sale in 1825 to J. Duluc for 255,000 francs. Gustave Roy arrived in 1866, built the first gravity-fed cellars and replanted after phylloxera.

The modern estate is a reconstruction. When Lionel Cruse bought it in 1945, only 3 of its 45 hectares were still in vines, and the family rebuilt from there; 2025 was its 80th vintage. In 2012 Françoise and Jacky Lorenzetti bought the shares of the other Cruse heirs, 50% of the estate, while Emmanuel Cruse kept his and stayed on as managing director, as he has been since 1998. Éric Pellon is technical director, Olivier Chalaud runs the vineyard and Éric Boissenot consults.

The historic heart of the vineyard lies inside a stone clos built in 1644. The estate runs to 68 hectares, 55 of them in Margaux, 5 in Haut-Médoc and 8 in Bordeaux Supérieur, planted 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1.5% Malbec and 1.5% Cabernet Franc, with vines 35 years old on average. About 100,000 bottles of the grand vin (the estate’s first wine) are made, aged 16 to 18 months in oak, 50% new. Blason d’Issan, the second wine, comes from the youngest vines and spends 14 to 16 months in barrel, 1 in 3 of them new.

At a glance

Appellation

Margaux Terroir of Margaux →

Classification

Troisième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

The Cruse family, since 1945; Françoise and Jacky Lorenzetti, 50% since 2012

Direction

Emmanuel Cruse, managing director, since 1998; Éric Pellon, technical director; Olivier Chalaud, vineyard

Consultant

Éric Boissenot

Vineyard

68 hectares, 55 of them in Margaux, the heart inside a stone clos of 1644; vines 35 years old on average

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 30%, Petit Verdot 2%, Malbec 1.5%, Cabernet Franc 1.5%

Cellar

16 to 18 months in oak, 50% new

Production

About 100,000 bottles of the grand vin

Wines

Château d’Issan; Blason d’Issan; Haut-Médoc d’Issan; Moulin d’Issan; Blanc d’Issan

In history

Sold in 1825 to J. Duluc for 255,000 francs