71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc
96-98pts Vinous
The 2023 Giscours is the very best wine I have ever tasted here. Giscours has been knocking on the doors of Bordeaux's elite for a few years now. 2023 is the year in which Giscours joins the region's big boys and fgirls. A towering majestic Margaux, that dazzles from start to finish. What a wine!
-Antonio Galloni
96-97pts Jame Suckling
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.
94-96pts Jeb Dunnuck
Deep purple-hued, the 2023 Château Giscours is beautifully done and brings a rare level of opulence while staying balanced and graceful. Cassis and more blue fruits, sappy flowers, violets, and minty herbs all define the bouquet, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness as well as ripe, polished tannins. I love its mid-palate, and it has perfectly integrated acidity and one heck of a great finish. It's going to be a classic Margaux that will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and evolve gracefully over the following two decades. The blend is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc.
94-96pts Wine Advocate
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.
94-96pts The Wine Cellar Insider
Flowers, truffle, blackberries, black cherries, smoke, cigar box, and spice-filled aromatics open the wine. The wine offers a fresh, mineral-driven, multi-layered experience packed with layers of ripe, sweet, black cherries, and currants. The mid-palate and finish is silky, lifted, and ripe with vibrancy, elegance, and purity from start to finish. The wine is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc.. 13.5% ABV, pH 3.75. Harvesting took place September 5th through October 6th. Drink from 2028 through 2055.
95pts Decanter
Some clear Cabernet notes on the nose, herbal elements, blackcurrant leaf and cranberry fruit. Smells ripe and cool with gorgeous milk chocolate elements. Energy is the first thing that springs to mind. There’s power here but there’s precision and velvety tannins to this too which gives both structure and brightness. Excellent harmony, this has roundness and depth, not too lean, with crunchy and really present chalky, wet stone tannins. Cranberry and strawberry with blueberry. Still lean, it’s straight but finessed with long, lingering flavours. It’s not as soft and plush as Giscours can be, not as naturally sexy, it’s more serious, but there’s suaveness here. Excellent effort. 3.75pH. Ageing 50% new oak. 70% grand vin production.
95pts Jane Anson
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.
93-95pts The Wine Independent
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Giscours flies out of the glass with vibrant notes of blackcurrant jelly, kirsch, and black raspberries giving way to hints of lilacs, pencil lead, and mossy tree bark. The medium-bodied palate is super soft and silky, with a well-knit line of soft acidity framing the bright, vibrant, and elegantly styled red and black fruit layers, finishing long and perfumed. This is a very alluring Giscours! The blend is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc, yield 34 hl/ha, aging in oak barrels, 50% new.
90-92pts Vinous
The 2023 Giscours was picked between September 6th and October 6th, a month long harvest at an average of 31hL/ha, lower than usual due to the loss of Merlot. This has a higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (71%). No sulfites were added until fermentation, and the élevage includes 50% new oak. This sample was taken from a foudre that represents a combination of barrels; I tasted it three times thereafter. It has a classically styled bouquet, less open and concentrated that the 2022, but well-defined with graphite-tinged black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a bright entry, a crisp line of acidity and fresh black fruit, with a noticeable marine/briny influence that guides the finish. This is not a powerful Giscours and doesn't quite have the persistence of the previous vintage, but I admire its linearity and classicism.
-Neal Martin
Winemaker's Notes
Château Giscours is a wine that reflects their teams’ expertise and in-depth knowledge of the terroir. It is a voluptuous, gourmet wine with the strong personality found in fine wines from the Margaux appellation. It is seductive on the palate thanks to its refined, silky tannins. It is a powerful, enchanting, hugely charming wine. It will age for years without gaining so much as a wrinkle.
History
Located on a beautiful 300 hectare estate, the 83 hectare Giscours vineyard is located in the famous Margaux appellation. Though the estate was first mentioned in a document dating back to 1330, it was not until 1847 that Count de Pescatore laid the cornerstone of the remarkable chateau that now overlooks the vines. Giscours' quality was confirmed by its inclusion as a Third Growth in the 1855 classification.
The estate was purchased by Nicolas Tari after World War II. He made major investments in modernizing Giscours. In 1995, Eric Albada Jelgersma acquired the right to grow vines and make wine on the estate. He continues to lavish the care and attention that are necessary to maintain Giscours' standing as a world-famous great growth.
