Chateau Giscours

The history of Chateau Giscours started in 1552 with the record showing the sales of the vineyards, from Gabriel Giraud to Pierre L’Homme. In the 18^th century it was under the Saint Simon family, but was confiscated with the Revolution in 1789 A string of new owners followed, and in 1847, the owner then being Count de Pescatore, built the chateau that still stands today.

The Count was still in charge when the property was ranked a third growth in the 1855 classification, but afterwards it fell into decline with under investment and lack of interest. Only until the arrival of Nicolas Tari, who purchased Giscours after World War II, saved the property from complete ruin and bankruptcy.

Tari first restored the vineyards and re-equipped the cellar, but a few decades later was in financial difficulty and had to sell to Eric Albada Jelgersma, a Dutch businessman. Eric also owns the neighboring Chateau du Tertre and in the last decade improved the wine quality to the path of its more glorious past.

But in the late 20^th century Giscours was reported to have made some very dubious winemaking practices which were outlawed by the appellation regulations. The scandal came to light in 1998, with a set of invoices for the purchase of oak chips was discovered, leading to the discovery that Giscours had been using that to impart oak flavor to the second wine. The cellar master Jean-Michel Ferrandez was charged and fined a significant amount.

The vineyards are spread over four gravel outcrops in Margaux, with a poor quality, slightly sandy, pebbly soils. The estate is about 400 hectares in size, with 80 hectares under vine at 10000 vines per hectare. A significant amount is old vines, with 25% over 40 years, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon at 53%, Merlot at 42% and the remainder being Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

In summer it sees leaf thinning and green harvesting to improve quality of the fruit. Manually harvest, destem and ferment plot by plot, the yields are typically less than 50 hl/ha. There is temperature control fermentation, followed by maceration and malolactic, then the wine goes into oak barrels for up to 18 months.

Regular racking is done, with the wine eventually fined but not filtered before bottling. The grand vin is Chateau Giscours of which 25000 cases are produced, and the second wine La Sirene de Giscours of 10000 cases.  

There are a number of lesser wines from lesser terroirs, including Chateau Dutheil and Chateau Houringe, both of Haut-Medoc cru bourgeois. A 40 hectare plot adjacent to Giscours but outside Margaux appellation is bottled under La Haut Medoc de Giscours.

I have recently tasted the 2005 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has deep ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of black fruit of cassis, blackberry and plum, red fruit of ripe raspberry, oak notes of cedar, pungent spice of licorice, maturity notes of savory and sweet tobacco, kernel notes of toasted almond. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin of ripe and velvety texture, medium alcohol, and medium (+) body, with medium intensity flavors of black fruit of blackberry, plum and dark cherries, red fruit of ripe cherries, oak notes of cedar, pungent spice of licorice, maturity notes of tobacco. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality Margaux with good intense nose showing complex characters, this wine has the typical Margaux elegance and fragrance, and considering the vintage a bit surprising on the palate as one would expect a higher concentration. Nevertheless it is balanced, with solid structure, though the complexity would be a bit disappointing due to the high expectation. The finish is quite long and although it is ready to drink now, it can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.