Château Giscours

Château Giscours is a renowned Margaux appellation estate located in the Médoc village of Labarde. Situated at the heart of a 300-hectare estate, the vineyard, which covers 86 hectares of Margaux appellation vines, is one of the largest on the Left Bank of the Gironde.

The Château produces a refined red wine recognized the world over. In the famous 1855 Bordeaux wine classification, Château Giscours is ranked Third Grand Cru.

>> Read our blog article "Grands Crus Classés de Bordeaux, official classification of 1855"

The history of Château Giscours

The Giscours estate has been known since the 14th century, when it was just a fortified property in the middle of a hostile natural environment. It was two hundred years later that wine production began on the estate, when in 1552 Pierre de Lhomme, a wealthy draper from Bordeaux, bought the noble house of "Guyscoutz", and decided to extend the vineyard to plant the very first vines.

In the 19th century, the Château was transformed into a neoclassical palace, with a park of rare species, huge farm buildings and modernized production tools. This transformation was the work of several owners, including industrialist and wine merchant Marc Promis, who restored the vineyards; Jean-Pierre Pescatore, an aesthete financier, who brought great renown to Château Giscours thanks to the quality of its red wine; and finally Edouard Cruse, who modernized the estate and created a magnificent park.

After belonging to the Tari family, who restored the estate after the Second World War, Château Giscours is now owned by the heirs of Eric Albada Jelgersma, a perfectionist who helped restructure and modernize the vineyard.

Château Giscours is also home to the Bordeaux-Giscours Cricket Club, one of France‘s top cricket teams.

What are the characteristics of Château Giscours wines?

Château Giscours vines are planted on an extraordinary terroir, giving its wines a unique identity and a worldwide reputation.

The 80-hectare vineyard benefits from a variety of soil types, including the famous Garonne gravel, which allows excess rainwater to drain away. The main red grape varieties of the Bordeaux wine region are found here: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

The uniqueness of Château Giscours lies in the vinification of powerful, full-bodied wines, with lively aromas and delicate tannins thanks to the slow extraction of the tannins contained in the grape skins.

The Grand Cu Classé produced by Château Giscours is a gourmet, elegant red wine with aromas of black fruits and smoky notes. Its fine, silky tannins give it a beautiful structure. It‘s a wine that evolves magnificently over the years, renowned for its ageing potential.
 
Château Giscours produces a second red wine, "La Sirène de Giscours", from grapes grown on the youngest vines in the vineyard. It also produces two other cuvées outside the Margaux appellation, the red "Haut Médoc de Giscours" and "Le Rosé x Giscours".
  

The best vintages of Château Giscours

Château Giscours produced its best vintages in : Château Giscours 1928, 1929, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1975, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2016, 2019.