Margaux, Third Growth.
71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc.
Château Giscours is a prestigious wine estate located in the Margaux appellation of Bordeaux, France. Classified as a Third Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, this historic château boasts a rich heritage dating back to the 14th century. The estate spans 80 hectares of prime vineyard land, characterized by its deep gravel soils, which are ideal for cultivating Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and smaller amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
The 2023 Giscours is the very best wine I have ever tasted here. Giscours has been knocking on the door of Bordeaux's elite for a few years now. Two thousand twenty-three is the year in which Giscours joins the region's big boys and girls. A towering, majestic Margaux, the 2023 dazzles from start to finish. What a wine!
James Suckling: 96-97/100
This really expands in the mouth, with tight tannins that are polished and velvety. The fruit shows depth and purity. Medium to full body. Juicy center-palate. Like the ripe fruit in the center palate. The quality of the tannins in this rises to a new level. The tannins pull you through the wine. 71% cabernet sauvignon, 7% cabernet franc and the rest merlot.
William Kelley - Wine Advocate: 94-96/100
The 2023 Giscours is one of the real successes of the vintage, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cherries and red fruits mingled with hints of undergrowth, violets and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's seamless and concentrated, with a fleshy core of fruit framed by ripe, powdery tannins and succulent acids, concluding with a long, broad finish. It's a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.
Now fully in the control of the Albada family, Château Giscours is at last about to construct a new winery, which should be operational for the 2027 vintage. The first new plantings using the estate's proprietary massal selections are also taking place. So, evolutions at this dynamic Margaux property continue to be fast-paced. In 2023, temperature lows were classic (aided, no doubt, by the large lake that serves as a kind of natural air conditioner at the heart of the estate's vineyards), even if highs were well above average. The team dared to wait for full maturity of their Cabernet Sauvignon, harvesting in multiple passages through each parcel according to vine age, as is now the norm at this address, to produce a wine of real character and plenitude that's a worthy follow-up to the terrific 2022.
Inky, expertly constructed, fleshy blackberry, pomegranate and cassis fruits, black pepper, sage, rosemary and smoked cumin spice, with lift, nuance and momentum through the palate, clearly an excellent vintage at Giscours, although relatively low 31hl/ha yields.