The 2020 Château Giscours is a powerhouse Margaux that’s showing why this estate is back in the spotlight after years of hard work and renewal. Packed with juicy blackberries, crushed stone, and a hint of burnt citrus, it’s full-bodied and muscular but wrapped in velvety tannins that promise it’ll soften beautifully with time. If you love wines with depth and structure that can age gracefully, this one’s worth the wait — but it’s already impressive enough to enjoy now if you’re curious.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 96
Published: Dec 15, 2022

Fascinating aromas of blueberries, crushed stone, and blackcurrants. Very aromatic. Full-bodied with juicy tannins that are creamy and intense. Slightly bitter, burnt citrus character. This is very muscular with velvety tannins. Needs time to soften. Try after 2025 but will age a long time.

The Wine Advocate | RP 95+
Published: Apr 6, 2023
Drink: 2027-2055

This estate is now enjoying its finest run since its glory days in the 1970s, and the 2020 Giscours is excellent. Unwinding in the glass with deep aromas of blackberries, cassis, pencil shavings, rose petals and sweet, loamy soil, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a layered and seamless mid-palate, excellent concentration and powdery structuring tannins.

Giscours produced some brilliant wines in the past, with a string of notable successes in the 1970s and early 1980s, but then it fell victim to neglect. The predominance of Cabernet Sauvignon in those old vintages, sometimes representing more than 80% of the blend, gradually ceded ground to more productive and facile Merlot; and the estate's reputation declined. When the Albada family acquired Giscours in 1995, all that began to change. Fully 140,000 missing vines were replaced, cultivating the soils was resumed, and the winery was renovated. A young Alexander van Beek arrived for harvest in 1995 and ended up staying to oversee the work. And the results today are very exciting indeed. Giscours itself occupies three large gravel domes: one opposite the château itself, the other on the other side of the road and a third inland that hits fully 21 meters above sea level. There's a large park with a river at the heart of the estate, and the team are creating wildlife corridors and hedges to bring life back into the vineyards. Seeded cover crops now protect the soils, and canopies are a touch lower to limit excess sugar accumulation. At harvest itself, vines of different age have been marked out to be harvested separately, an immense task, considering that Giscours has 100 hectares under vine in the Margaux appellation alone.

Jancisrobinson.com | JS 16.5
Published: Jan 25, 2024
Drink: 2028-2040

Tasted blind. Black core with purplish rim. Dark and savoury, slightly charry, on the nose. Masses of pure black fruit. Sweeter in the mouth, a bit sweet-sour, flowingly gentle on the palate and scented. Gentle and fragrant at the same time.

Giscours.com

Château Giscours, a Grand Cru Classé in 1855, is a wine with a big personality that expresses the expertise of our teams and the full wealth of our terroir in the Margaux appellation.
Château Giscours is an elegant, well-structured wine with magnificently bright aromas. It is a wine that develops wonderfully over time, the enjoyment of which is passed down from generation to generation.

- 2020 -

Audacity and great success
For this 2020 vintage, our aim was to continue in the same vein as 2019, while preserving the typical character of Château Giscours. To achieve this, our goal was to focus on two concepts that are important to us: aromatic brilliance and the finesse of the tannins.

The Giscours technical team has ensured that each plant receives personalized attention. Our winegrowers possess in-depth knowledge of the terroir and the rows under their care, and all consider these acres of vines to be micro-gardens.

2020 is a vintage we are proud of. Our team's in-depth knowledge of the terroir and risk-taking have led to the creation of a voluptuous wine. Rich and full of character, it possesses all the power and fleshiness of Château Giscours, and evokes a taffeta texture with silky tannins.

It is a vintage that reflects all the meticulousness and boldness that guided our team during this atypical year.

Breeding
Harvest
From September 8 to October 2

Vinification
Manual and optical sorting
Concrete and stainless steel vats
Maceration 35 days at 28°C

Aging
French oak barrels
50% new wood
17 months of barrel aging